UK sanctions Abramovich associates

The UK government, on 14 April, announced that it had imposed sanctions against ‘longstanding business associates of the oligarch Roman Abramovich, freezing assets ‘estimated to be worth up to £10bn’.

It said that by sanctioning Eugene Tenenbaum and David Davidovich, it was cutting ‘key revenues for Putin’s war machine.’

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said, ‘Eugene Tenenbaum has described himself as one of Abramovich’s closest business associates. Corporate filings show that Tenenbaum took control of Ervington Investments Limited, an Abramovich-linked investment company, on 24 February immediately following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Tenenbaum, who is a director at Chelsea Football Club, is subject to an asset freeze.

‘David Davidovich has been described by Forbes as “Abramovich’s much lower profile right hand man” and took over Ervington Investments from Tenenbaum in March 2022. He is subject to an asset freeze and travel ban.’

In statements to the press, Eugene Tenenbaum has said, ‘I have worked for Mr Abramovich and his family in various capacities for over 20 years – including as a director for Chelsea Football Club and a director for other companies. I am not the owner of these companies nor the beneficiary of the assets these companies possess, nor have I ever been. I do not hold assets for Mr Abramovich or his family and Mr Abramovich or his family have not transferred any assets to me.’

He has said that he expects ‘mistakes’ made by the UK government to be ‘rectified’.

Oligarchs feel squeeze from both sides

According to Bloomberg, on 16 April Vladimir Putin signed a decree that ‘requires Russian companies to remove their listings from overseas stock exchanges.’

It said that as a result of the new law, ‘Russian billionaires who own the companies listed abroad won’t be able to collect foreign-currency dividends from the depository receipts [and] trading of depositary receipts on foreign exchanges also must cease within days,’ noting that ‘the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, London Stock Exchange and other top international bourses had already frozen Russian stocks after Putin launched his war on Ukraine in February.’

The current list of the UK’s Russia sanctions targets is to be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-consolidated-list-of-targets

See also the following for a guide to navigating the sanctions rules:

https://ofsi.blog.gov.uk/2022/03/10/russia-what-has-changed-and-what-do-i-need-to-do/