Nowhere to run? Hunt is on for multi-million pound superyachts owned by Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska and other oligarchs warned by Boris there are 'NO safe havens' after being sanctioned by UK
The hunt is on for multi-million pound superyachts in British waters owned by Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska and other oligarchs who were warned by Boris Johnson today that there are 'no safe havens'.
A further seven Russian oligarchs were sanctioned by the UK Government for their links to Vladimir Putin after ministers came under sustained pressure to target them over Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.Jets and yachts owned or chartered by the elite individuals, including Abramovich who is worth about £9.4billion and Mr Deripaska who has an estimated wealth of £2billion, can be seized, the sanctions stated.
The Prime Minister said: 'There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin's vicious assault on Ukraine.
'We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.'
One of the oligarchs, Igor Sechin, has already seen his 289-ft 'Amore Vero' - meaning 'True Love' - seized by French custom officers near Marseille after being sanctioned by the European Union.
But Abramovich's two superyachts may already be out of reach. Solaris, worth £430million, was moored in Barcelona a week ago but is now off the Sicily coast, believed to be heading to Israel, where he holds citizenship.
His £540million Eclipse, the world's second biggest super yacht, is currently in open sea off the coast of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. Eclipse was also in Barcelona last week.
And Mr Deripaska's 238ft Clio, which boasts 21 crew and a speed of up to 18 knots, appears to be heading down the Egyptian coast after travelling through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
Meanwhile, 216ft Sea Rhapsody - owned by VTB Bank chairman Andrey Kostin - is thought to be in Victoria, a small island in the Indian Ocean, after departing from the city of Salalah in Oman, on the Arabian Peninsula.
The hunt is on for multi-million pound superyachts in British waters owned by Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska and other oligarchs who were warned by Boris Johnson today that there are 'no safe havens'
Jets and yachts owned or chartered by the seven elite individuals, including Roman Abramovich (pictured above) who is worth about £9.4billion and Oleg Deripaska who has an estimated wealth of £2billion, can be seized, the sanctions stated
Abramovich's £540million Eclipse (pictured in September 2013), the world's second biggest super yacht, is currently in open sea off the coast of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. The vessel was in Barcelona last week
The Chelsea FC owner's Solaris (file photo above), worth £430million, was moored in Barcelona a week ago but is now off the Sicily coast, believed to be heading to Israel, where he holds citizenship
The Solaris is not as large as the Eclipse, a 533ft vessel. He has previously owned at least five other colossal yachts, with 162ft Sussurro the most recent to change hands around 201
Branded a pro-Kremlin oligarch, Abramovich was targeted with an asset freeze and a travel ban on Thursday.
The updated sanctions list said the Chelsea FC owner has had a 'close relationship for decades' with Putin, which he has previously denied.
It said: 'This association has included obtaining a financial benefit or other material benefit from Putin and the government of Russia.'
He is worth 10.4bn ($12.5bn), according to Forbes, and owns a £150million Kensington mansion, a £22million West London penthouse, and more than £1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars based in Britain and around the world.
In London, his staff are said to have been ready for viewings at his 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, valued at more than £150m, and a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront, worth an estimated £22m.
Chelsea FC is his most valuable British asset, after the oligarch transformed its fortunes from outside challengers to Premier League giants with the help of Jose Mourinho and huge signings like Didier Drogba, so its sale will be a personal blow to the billionaire industrialist.
Ministers issued a licence authorising Chelsea to continue playing matches, given the 'significant impact' the sanctions will have.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said there should be 'nowhere to hide' for individuals close to Putin's regime.
Speaking to CNN in the US, she said: 'We went through a period after the Cold War where we all thought that peace would be inevitable, that we could reduce defence spending, that we could focus on growing our economies. We became dependent on authoritarian regimes.
'If you look at Europe and our dependence on Russian oil and gas, that has been a huge problem. So, what we need to do now is completely change our approach.
'That's why we put in place (these) tough sanctions, and today I've announced that we're sanctioning Roman Abramovich as well as other major oligarchs close to the Putin regime.
'We need to take this head on, (there) can be nowhere to hide for these individuals. We cannot carry on with business as usual, as we have been doing for the past 20 years.'
Ms Truss earlier said the Government targeted the oligarchs to 'ramp up the pressure on the Putin regime and choke off funds to his brutal war machine'.
Mr Deripaska's 238ft Clio, which boasts 21 crew and a speed of up to 18 knots, appears to be heading down the Egyptian coast after travelling through the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea (Mr Deripaska seen in 2015)
The superyacht Clio, which was known as Queen K for a few years, seen anchored in the Bodrum district of Turkey's southwestern province Mugla in June 2015
Meanwhile, 216ft Sea Rhapsody - owned by VTB Bank chairman Andrey Kostin (above) - is thought to be in Victoria, a small island in the Indian Ocean, after departing from the city of Salalah in Oman, on the Arabian Peninsula
Mr Kostin's yacht, pictured above. The Prime Minister said: 'There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin's vicious assault on Ukraine'
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson defended the 'very careful' approach to imposing sanctions.
He said: 'You have got to have clear evidence that people are connected to the Putin regime, that has been established, that's why we are going ahead with the sanctions that we are.'
The Prime Minister said there was 'enough of a link' between the Putin regime and the seven oligarchs to take action by sanctioning them.
He told broadcasters: 'I can't comment on what individuals are doing but what we've concluded is that there is enough connection, enough of the link between the Putin regime and the individuals in question, to justify the action.
'I think when you look at what is happening in Ukraine, and you look to the casual rejection of every norm of civilised behaviour in bombing a maternity hospital, I think people in this country, I can see that people connected to the Putin regime need to be sanctioned, and that's what we're doing.'
Mr Johnson added he will continue to 'tighten the economic vice around the Putin regime' with further sanctions in the future.
He said: 'We've taken the powers to do that and, certainly, you can expect to see that.
'You can also expect to see the UK, again, leading in conversations with our friends and partners around the world to make sure that as Putin doubles down in violence against the Ukrainian people, we in the rest of the world, we who condemn his behaviour, work together to tighten the economic vice around the Putin regime, and that's what we're going to do.
Mr Deripaska, who has a multi-million pound property portfolio in Britain, has been a prominent figure for years.
One of the oligarchs, Igor Sechin 9above), has already seen his 289-ft 'Amore Vero' - meaning 'True Love' - seized by French custom officers near Marseille after being sanctioned by the European Union
'Amore Vero' is docked in the Mediterranean resort of La Ciotat on March 3. French officials said the crew was preparing for urgent departure when they arrived, even though the repairs were still under way
In 2008, he was embroiled in a row involving Labour grandee Lord Peter Mandelson and then-shadow chancellor George Osborne.
Both men met Mr Deripaska on his yacht, while Mr Osborne reportedly attempted to solicit a donation for the Tory party from the oligarch - something he denied.
Last week, Abramovich, who has owned Chelsea since 2003, confirmed the club is up for sale, with the net proceeds being donated to a charity benefiting 'all victims of the war in Ukraine'.
He said in a statement: 'I have always taken decisions with the club's best interest at heart.
'In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the club … I will not be asking for any loans to be repaid.'
His spokesman said he would be playing a 'limited' role in trying to broker a 'peaceful resolution' to the Kremlin's attack on its neighbour.
The Government said Abramovich had received financial benefits from the Kremlin, including tax breaks for his companies, the buying and selling of shares from and to the state at favourable rates, and contacts in the run up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The UK's latest sanctions come after an armed forces minister said the 'despicable' bombing of a maternity hospital in Ukraine is a war crime committed by Russian troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strike in Mariupol was part of a 'genocide' on his people.
Three people, including a child, were killed in the attack, according to the besieged city's council.
Defence minister James Heappey told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that UK intelligence believes the strike came from artillery rather than the air, but that Britain is 'still looking at exactly (what happened)'.
The Army veteran said that, even if Russian troops did not deliberately target the medical complex, the attack - which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described as 'depraved' - still amounts to a war crime.
Mr Heappey told BBC Breakfast: 'We ask ourselves the question how did this happen?
'Was it an indiscriminate use of artillery or missiles into a built-up area, or was a hospital explicitly targeted?
'Both are equally despicable, both, as the Ukrainians have pointed out, would amount to a war crime.'
Pressed on whether he thinks the attack constitutes a war crime, he replied: 'Yes, if you deliberately target a piece of civilian infrastructure like a hospital, yes.
'If you use indiscriminate artillery into an urban area without due regard for the reality, you could hit a protected site like a hospital, then that too, in my view, is.'
During a call with Mr Zelensky on Wednesday evening, Downing Street said the Prime Minister pointed out that the Mariupol bombing 'was yet further evidence' that Putin was 'acting with careless disregard for international humanitarian law'.
As the fighting entered a 15th day in Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Russia had confirmed the use of thermobaric rockets - often called vacuum bombs - on its neighbour.
Thermobaric weapons, which suck in oxygen to generate a powerful explosion, are not illegal but their use is strictly regulated, MoD said.
There are also fears among the West that Moscow could deploy chemical weapons as it looks to ground down Ukrainian resistance.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the world should be 'on the lookout' for the Russian use of chemical and biological weaponry.
She said 'Russia's false claims' about alleged US biological weapons labs and chemical weapons development in Ukraine could be an 'an obvious ploy' by the Kremlin to try to 'justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine'.
UK minister Mr Heappey warned Putin that the use of chemical weapons had 'triggered an international response' in the past.
He told Today their deployment was the 'most despicable thing that anybody can imagine' and that the scenes being witnessed in Mariupol would be 'nothing by comparison to the suffering and devastation that chemical weapons cause'.
His comments come with talks set to take place between Moscow and Kyiv foreign ministers in Turkey in what will be the highest-level discussions since the assault started last month.
Roman Abramovich and Oleg Deripaska's FROZEN fortunes: From £3BN Chelsea FC, luxury superyachts, country estates and Mayfair 'crash pads'... Russian oligarchs' multi-billion pound assets now sanctioned by UK
By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter for MailOnline
Roman Abramovich has today had at least £3.2billion of UK assets frozen, preventing him carrying out a fire sale of Chelsea FC and his London homes.
Abramovich is worth £10.4bn ($12.5bn), according to Forbes, and owns a £150m Kensington mansion, a £22m West London penthouse, and more than £1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars based in Britain and around the world.
Also on the new sanctions list is Oleg Deripaska, once Russia's richest man and named in Parliament as one of President Putin's most loyal oligarchs giving him a net worth of between £2billion and £3.2billion. Deripaska, who once famously entertained Blairite spin doctor Lord Mandelson on his yacht, is understood to own a £50million 'crashpad' property on Belgrave Square in London.
He is also rumoured to have properties in nearby Eaton Square and a Surrey mansion, although the oil tycoon does not appear on the titles.
Also on today's sanctions list Igor Sechin, chief executive of Russian oil company Rosneft, Andrey Kostin, chairman of VTB bank, Alexei Miller, chief executive of energy giant Gazprom, Nikolai Tokarev, president of Russian state-owned pipeline company Transneft and Dmitri Lebedev, chairman of the board of directors at Bank Rossiya.
Due to the habitual use of offshore companies to by properties, it is not yet clear what assets they own in the UK - but they are all banned from visiting the UK or its territories.
Roman Abramovich now cannot sell any of his UK assets without a special licence, which are near impossible to get. Any cash he holds in the UK are now frozen in accounts if he has not been able to transfer funds abroad, while his shares on the London Stock Exchange cannot be sold and will pay no dividends.
Chelsea FC is his most valuable British asset, after the oligarch transformed its fortunes from outside challengers to Premier League giants with the help of Jose Mourinho and huge signings like Didier Drogba.
But now he has been prohibited from transactions with UK individuals and businesses - meaning his plan to sell the West London club looks impossible. It could still go through provided the Government issues a licence if he asks for one, with lawyers claiming he would have to prove he would not benefit from the sale.
Effective immediately, Chelsea is banned from selling match tickets, signing new players and must even close its club shop. Shirt sponsor Three is already considering walking away from their £40million shirt deal.
In London, over the past fortnight his staff are said to have been ready for viewings at his 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, valued at more than £150m, and a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront, worth an estimated £22m. These now cannot be sold off and cannot be rented unless tenants are already in.
Abramovich is worth 10.4bn ($12.5bn), according to Forbes, and owns a £150m Kensington mansion, a £22m penthouse, and more than £1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars based in Britain and around the world
His two superyachts may already be out of reach. £430million Solaris was moored in Barcelona a week ago but is now off the Sicily coast, believed to be heading to Israel, where he holds citizenship. The £540million Eclipse is currently in open sea off the coast of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.
The billionaire recently bought a £264m Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet. The 50-seater aircraft is the world's most expensive private jet with a base cost of £188m and a rumoured £76m of additional equipment to the billionaire's taste, Forbes reported, citing industry sources. It was last tracked to Dubai six days ago. Meanwhile, his £50m Gulfstream G650ER jet - registration LX-Ray - was last seen in Ankara, Turkey, five days ago.
His £80m private jet nicknamed The Bandit, left Stansted Airport on February 25 – the day before a blanket ban on Russian aircraft in EU and UK airspace was imposed. It then landed in Switzerland. It is not clear if he or any of his family were on board.
Abramovich also owns a fleet of supercars valued at more than £16million, believed to be in the UK. Among the high end vehicles are a Porsche 911 GT1 Evo, a Ferrari FXX, a Aston Martin Vulcan and a Maserati MC12 Corsa. The fleet also includes a Pagani Zonda R, of which only 15 have ever been produced and come with a price tag of £2.5m.
Abramovich has seven children from two of his ex-wives. The eldest, Anna, 29, is a Columbia University philosophy graduate who lives in New York, while Arkadiy, 27, is an industrial tycoon with substantial oil and gas investments.
Sofia, 26, lives in London and the 'wild child' 'of the family, recently posted a message on Instagram attacking Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine. Less is known about Arina, 20, and Ilya, 18, or Aaron, 11 and Leah Lou, 7, who were both born in New York to his third wife, Dasha.
Abramovich's current location is unknown, but he has recently been in Belarus 'trying to help' negotiate an end to Russia's war against Ukraine following its illegal invasion of the country.
As pressure grows to punish anyone seen having aided Putin's regime, here is a round-up of Abramovich's assets in Britain, as well as yachts, cars and planes that are strewn across the world.
Chelsea FC: £3bn
The West London club is the jewel of Abramovich's empire, so his decision to put it up for sale for a reported £3bn - as revealed today - must have been personally painful.
Now that is impossible due to the sanctions.
It is understood that the Russian was targeting American buyers as investment from China, the Far East and Eastern Europe has dried up for clear political reasons, although there are major doubts that any potential buyer will meet his ambitious valuation.
American bank Raine Group is overseeing the sale, with prospective buyers given until just Friday to file 'indicative bids', the NY Times reported - suggesting Abramovich is keen to seal a quick deal.
Raine Group first acted for Chelsea in 2018 after talks with US private equity firm Silverlake and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe broke up without reaching an agreement.
The Russian tycoon regularly took his family along to watch Chelsea matches, and is pictured here with his third wife, Dasha Zhukova
The club has effectively been for sale ever since due to Abramovich's conflict with the UK government after the Home Office declined to issue him a visa, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine giving him fresh impetus to sell.
Abramovich wants a minimum of £3bn to sell Chelsea as he invites bids for the club. But there are emerging doubts that the Russian oligarch will receive anywhere near that mark.
There is a sense that securing an American buyer, potentially through a hedge fund, might be the best route towards a sale.
But Abramovich's links with a Russian regime that has caused so much destruction in Ukraine could lead to reluctance from interested parties to deal with Chelsea.
Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss, worth £4.3bn, claims he has been approached to consider buying Chelsea, potentially as part of a consortium.
'Abramovich is trying to sell all his villas in England, he also wants to get rid of Chelsea quickly,' Wyss told Swiss newspaper Blick.
'I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea from Abramovich. I have to wait four to five days now.
'Abramovich is currently asking far too much. You know, Chelsea owe him £2 billion. But Chelsea has no money. As of today, we don't know the exact selling price.'
However, there is doubt whether a consortium style takeover would have longevity given the huge financial demands expected at a club the size of Chelsea.
The Russian oligarch has spent time in the United Arab Emirates in recent weeks with a view to transferring part of his wealth there, Sportsmail understands.
Sources claim Abramovich believes Chelsea is worth north of £3bn - as much as £4bn - but selling it is now impossible.
It seems inevitable that the Russian businessman will have to lower his expectations, but whether anyone is willing to offer as high as the £3bn that he would consider is unclear.
Abramovich attempted to step back from the daily running of Chelsea on Saturday, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The oligarch has already tried to hand the 'stewardship and care' of Chelsea to the club's charitable foundation trustees.
London property empire: £200m +
Chris Bryant claim in the Commons that Abramovich had been looking to sell 'his home and a flat' is thought to refer to his 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, valued at more than £150m, and a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront, worth an estimated £22m.
Staff at his Kensington property, which is on the same road as several high-security embassies, were told to expect viewings, according to The Times. It is not clear yet if he managed it, but lawyers have said this would be unlikely.
Chinese buyers are said to have been interested in the mansion, but a sale could be a drawn out protracted affair given the cost and due diligence agents would have to carry out.
Abramovich has become a less frequent visitor to London in recent years following issues with his entrepreneurial visa. He has Israeli and Portuguese citizenship on top of being a Russian national.
His whereabouts are not known after he was reported to be in Belarus to assist as an unlikely broker in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine on Monday.
Abramovich is said to be looking to offload his 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens, valued at more than £150m
The tycoon also owns a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront, worth an estimated £22m
Abramovich's London property portfolio is also said to include a flat in Cheyne Terrace, Chelsea, which was purchased for £8.75million in 2017 and includes a high-tech temperature-controlled wine cellar.
It is close to three other properties that overlook the Thames, bought for £25million, that he had once intended to knock together and turn into a £100million super-home.
However Abramovich, who made his money selling assets acquired from the state following the fall of the Soviet Union, scrapped the plan and sold up after he relented to local uproar.
Abramovich became an Israeli citizen in 2018 after his British visa expired and reportedly owns most of the properties through a holding company called Fordstam
And land registry records show that since the expiration of his visa he transferred 11 properties to the business.
Sofia Abramovich, one of his daughters with second wife Irina. She recently posted an anti-Putin meme on Instagram, calling for an end to the war with Ukraine
Sofia regularly shares envy-inducing snaps on social media, which reflect her love of horses, champagne and exotic holidays
With her Instagram post earlier this week (right), 27-year-old Sofia joined a chorus of other wealthy Russian who have expressed their disgust at Putin's actions
Abramovich has gone through three divorces. He is pictured with his first wife, Olga, who he met when he was 20 and she was a 23-year-old daughter of a high-ranking government diplomat
Abramovich's second wife, Irina, a London-based former Aeroflot stewardess who wed the Russian tycoon in 1991. She is seen cheering on Chelsea against Tottenham in 2005
The tycoon's third wife was the magazine editor Dasha Zhukova (left), who he was with between 2008 and 2017. They had seven children More recently he has been romantically linked to ballerina Diana Vishneva, seen on stage as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet Kirov Ballet at the Coliseum
Abramovich's eldest daughter, Anna, 29, is a Columbia University philosophy graduate who lives in New York. She is seen at the Chinawhite Evening Party during Cartier International Polo Day 2011 in Surrey
His Kensington Gardens mansion, which originally cost him £90m, is close to the homes of steel magnate Lakshmi Mitta and billionaire business magnate Wang Jianlin.
Abramovich also owns homes in Russia, Sardinia, France, the West Indies and the US.
He lost a number of properties during his 2007 divorce from his second wife Irina, with whom he has five children, including a £30m home on the Riviera called Chateau de la Croe, as well as an estate in Sussex called Fyning Hill, which he had bought for £18million.
OTHER ASSETS
Yachts, jets and cars: £1.26bn +
Despite being highly secretive and preferring a life out of the spotlight, Abramovich has still led a glitzy lifestyle, with two superyachts worth £930m, £16m worth of luxury cars and private planes aplenty.
The billionaire recently bought a £264m Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet.
The 50-seater aircraft is the world's most expensive private jet with a base cost of £188m and a rumoured £76m of additional equipment to the billionaire's taste, Forbes reported, citing industry sources.
According to flight tracking websites, the plane was flown from Monaco to Moscow on Thursday, amid heightened speculation Abramovich was due to face sanctions. It is unclear if he was actually on board.
Meanwhile, his £50m Gulfstream G650ER jet - registration LX-Ray - took off today from Turkey headed for an unknown destination, according to unconfirmed reports from Twitter account @RuOligarchJets, run by amateur flight tracker Jack Sweeney.
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