Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich handed over nearly €4 billion in assets in trust to his sons in early February 2022, three weeks before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to a leak published by the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’.
While sanctions experts have pointed out that these trusts are not illegal, they reveal the oligarch’s dense web of financial affairs and complicate, if necessary, the imposition of new sanctions.
Abramovich is currently contesting sanctions against him declared by the United Kingdom and the European Union for his links to the Kremlin. The United States has not yet sanctioned the tycoon after he sought cover as an alleged «unofficial mediator» in the Russia-Ukraine peace talks, although senior officials consider this to be chicanery and have called for him to be reprimanded, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
The assets reportedly include, for example, luxury properties and a fleet of superyachts, helicopters and private jets, which now have Abramovich’s seven children, the youngest of whom is nine years old, as beneficiaries.
The files, the British newspaper explains, appear to have been obtained through a data theft from a Cyprus-based offshore service provider that administers Abramovich’s trusts. The newspaper adds that it has received the documents anonymously.
‘The Guardian’ has consulted with a former senior US official, an expert in sanctions enforcement, who acknowledged that, with this operation, Abramovich has successfully distanced himself from any additional sanctions to freeze his assets.
«In and of itself it is already complicated to determine ownership of an asset because of the labyrinthine way they are listed under shell companies and trusts. If you then add additional layers of abstraction when it comes to designating who is ultimately responsible for it, the application of sanctions can become a very complicated exercise,» he notes.
Neither Abramovich nor his sons have commented to the British newspaper.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
