It is “the most comprehensive public database of oligarchs’ assets to date,” according to the Organed Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, which worked with 27 media outlets to launch the tracker. The tool is interactive and shows the “tremendous wealth owned outside of Russia by the oligarchs and key personalities close to” the Russian president.
The investigative project uncovered more than 150 assets with a total value of about $ 17 billion, including real estate, private planes, company shares, yachts, residences and more. Journalists discovered these assets by looking at land registries, corporate registries, and leaks at sea.
“Russia under Vladimir Putin was controlled by a very small group of people who supported him in power while using his system of patronage at the expense of the Russian people,” OCCRP publisher Drew Sullivan said in a press release.
The system has been under new control since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as Western governments sought to freeze Putin and the oligarchs’ foreign assets – and prevent them from traveling. The goal is twofold: the sanctions are both a punishment for the Russian ruling class and a club to force Putin to step down.
The idea was born in February just before Russia invaded Ukraine, according to the Guardian, who is part of the project. The project started with “a list of 35 people named last year by imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny as” key actors to support and benefit from the Kremlin’s kleptocracy. “
Just three weeks after the invasion, “27 of these people are subject to sanctions in the US and Europe. A further seven have been blacklisted in Canada, wrote the Guardian.
One of the people on this 35 list is Roman Abramovich, 55, worth around $ 13.5 billion. Although he has not been fined by the UK and has denied ties to Putin, Abramovich recently announced that he is selling his Chelsea Football Club, which he acquired in 2003. The OCCRP database shows it has assets of at least $ 7 billion, including a seaside property on the chic French Riviera, a Bombardier private jet, and several properties dotted around London. Others included in the database are businessman Alisher Usmanov, Igor Sechin (CEO of the Russian oil giant Rosneft) and Oleg Deripaska, a billionaire who made a fortune in the aluminum business. o Credit Suisse, which lists its customers, including criminals, alleged human rights violators, and sanctioned parties. A Swiss bank has postponed its report.
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