Latest news with #RussianOligarchs
Washington Post
06-08-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
US is auctioning a seized $325M Russian superyacht with 8 state rooms, a helipad, a gym and a spa
WASHINGTON — The United States is auctioning off the $325 million luxury superyacht Amadea , its first sale of a seized Russian superyacht since the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The auction, which closes Sept. 10, comes as President Donald Trump seeks to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war. The U.S. has said it's working with allies to put pressure on Russian oligarchs, some of whom are close to Putin and have had their superyachts seized, to try to compel him to stop the war.
Asharq Al-Awsat
23-06-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Italy Has Frozen Russian Oligarchs' Assets Worth over $2.6 Billion
Italy has frozen Russian oligarchs' assets valued at around 2.3 billion euros ($2.64 billion) since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, data provided by Italian authorities show, with the most recent seizures occurring at the beginning of the month. Italy seized assets - including bank accounts, luxury villas, yachts and cars - as part of the European Union's sanctions against the Kremlin and its backers. The Bank of Italy had said that at the end of June 2023 their value amounted to 2.5 billion dollars, said Reuters. This month it did not update the total amount, but said that the funds frozen due to sanctions against Russia totaled almost 280 million euros up to December 2024 — a 44 million euro increase from the previous year. Separately, the tax police seized in early June an Iranian company based in Milan, Irital Shipping Lines, and two of its properties worth a total of more than 1 million euros, due to "Iran's military support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine". The company has not yet responded to a request for comment emailed by Reuters. MAINTENANCE COSTS Italy's State Property Agency holds all non-liquid assets frozen due to EU sanctions and the Italian government bears the costs of managing these assets during the freezing period. According to the latest official data available, the costs incurred by the State for their maintenance amounted to 31.7 million euros up to February 2024. When asked about the level of maintenance cost incurred by Italian taxpayers so far, the agency said it could not provide the information because it "is covered by official secrecy." Reuters calculation suggests that costs may have increased by around 15 million euros to more than 45 million euros to date. The fate of these assets rests with the European Union. If the EU decides to make the freezes permanent, the state must initiate proceedings to convert them into confiscations. If Brussels decides to unfreeze them, the assets can be returned to their owners, provided that they pay Italy the maintenance costs incurred.
Reuters
23-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Italy has frozen Russian oligarchs' assets worth over $2.6 billion
MILAN, June 23 (Reuters) - Italy has frozen Russian oligarchs' assets valued at around 2.3 billion euros ($2.64 billion) since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, data provided by Italian authorities show, with the most recent seizures occurring at the beginning of the month. Italy seized assets - including bank accounts, luxury villas, yachts and cars - as part of the European Union's sanctions against the Kremlin and its backers. The Bank of Italy had said that at the end of June 2023 their value amounted to 2.5 billion dollars. This month it did not update the total amount, but said that the funds frozen due to sanctions against Russia totalled almost 280 million euros up to December 2024 — a 44 million euro increase from the previous year. Separately, the tax police seized in early June an Iranian company based in Milan, Irital Shipping Lines, and two of its properties worth a total of more than 1 million euros, due to "Iran's military support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine". The company has not yet responded to a request for comment emailed by Reuters. Italy's State Property Agency holds all non-liquid assets frozen due to EU sanctions and the Italian government bears the costs of managing these assets during the freezing period. According to the latest official data available, the costs incurred by the State for their maintenance amounted to 31.7 million euros up to February 2024. When asked about the level of maintenance cost incurred by Italian taxpayers so far, the agency said it could not provide the information because it "is covered by official secrecy." Reuters calculation suggests that costs may have increased by around 15 million euros to more than 45 million euros to date. The fate of these assets rests with the European Union. If the EU decides to make the freezes permanent, the state must initiate proceedings to convert them into confiscations. If Brussels decides to unfreeze them, the assets can be returned to their owners, provided that they pay Italy the maintenance costs incurred. ($1 = 0.8719 euros)
The Sun
21-06-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
ID cards will not stop illegal immigration from fuelling Britain's black market – we must quit the ECHR instead
IDENTITY Cards, if introduced, would be a burden on the law abiding, change the relationship between the citizen and the state but do nothing to stop crime and safe guard our borders. Indeed the idea that they could do so is laughable. 3 The answer to Government failure is, of course, always seen as yet more Government and higher taxes to pay for it. Illegal migrants swim through the system because the borders are not secure but by magic an ID card would stop them. Drug dealers, Russian Oligarchs and other undesirables launder money by the billions, once again an ID Card is the answer. Yet this is just displacement activity, a state that is broken seeking to mend itself by doing more, rather trying to do what it is meant to do well. Identity Cards, if introduced, would be a burden on the law abiding, change the relationship between the citizen and the State but do nothing to stop crime and safe guard our borders. Indeed the idea that they could do so is laughable. Remember illegal migrants are illegal. They work for people who do not dutifully fill out PAYE returns and they rent property from exploitative landlords. 3 It is already the case that honest businesses, which are the vast majority, have to go through expensive administrative hoops to check up on their employees, likewise landlords with their tenants, but these make no difference. People who employ illegals or who let them property do not care, and because they operate outside the law they pay less and charge more for the service, making the most out of the failures of the migration system. Additional checks merely put up the profit margins of those who disobey the law and reduce them for those who obey it, they do not begin to solve the problems. Consider the tented village in Park Lane in the very centre of London, last year it was at the north end near Marble Arch but it was cleared in an act of bold leadership by the authorities. It has now popped back up at the south end near Hyde Park Corner. A remarkable success for the government. None of them would have an ID card, so if arrested what would the authorities do? It certainly would not deport them because our deportation ratios are feeble and human rights excuses allow illegal entrants to stay for the most spurious reasons. 3 Foreigners in this country are meant to have an ID card anyway - it is called a passport. But those who are here illegally dispose of them as without a clear country of origin them it is harder to be sent home. ID cards, while making no difference for criminals, would be a burden on the law abiding. First of all there would be an additional cost because they would have to be paid for and this would come in the form of extra taxation, but it is not just the cost. The Windrush scandal is a reminder of what happens when the UK adopts a continental style 'show me your papers' attitude. Some people were even removed from this country who were found to have been here legally and had been for decades. The hostile environment policy turned out to be hostile for His Majesty's subjects but not for criminals. AJP Taylor, one of the last century's most famous historians, said that 'Until August 1914 a sensible, law abiding Englishman could pass through life and hardly notice the existence of the State, beyond the Post Office and the policeman'. This was the foundation of freedom; law abiding people would not be bothered by the State and would not have to prove who they are or be asked about what they are doing by the authorities. In the UK we do not have to register with the police where we spend the night and we do not even need to show our driving licence if stopped for an alleged motoring offence, there is a seven day window in which to do so. The State has limited powers over what we do. The argument for identity cards says that if we are innocent then we have nothing to fear, but that is not true. Inconvenience and intrusion have increased in recent years, as successive Governments have tried to increase their control of individual lives. This reached a peak during Covid when limits were put on people's shopping and outdoor exercise. These onerous rules would have been easier to enforce draconianly if ID cards had then been compulsory. Track and Trace was fortunately useless but it would have been able to follow our every move with ID cards being registered wherever we went. As we now know that lockdown was excessive, went on too long, damaged the economy and made little difference to the end result, thank goodness the lockdown Stasi did not have this additional power. To stop crime and reduce illegal migration a range of different policies are needed. We need to pull out of the Refugee Convention and the one on European Human Rights. We need a Government that is willing to be tough. Donald Trump has managed to reduce illegal entries in April by 91 per cent, not by ID cards but by effective action. Britain is broken, swathes of public services do not work. This is the fault of the Blairite constitutional settlement that has stymied decision making. It is not the fault of the hard pressed, over taxed, honest citizen who does not need to prove who he is or worse still pay for the privilege.
News.com.au
20-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Finland using seized Russian assets to arm Ukraine defence forces
Finland has sent a warning shot to Russian oligarchs as it ramps up its support of Ukraine in the now three-year-long war. Finland has stood firm supporting the embattled nation since Vladimir Putin's invasion and has linked arms with several other EU members and Western allies in supplying aid. The nation joined NATO in 2023 and signed a bilateral defence pact with Ukraine to expand cooperation on intelligence, armaments, and training, providing a whopping $5.79 billion in support. But now, the funding for arms is coming from a place that hits Putin where it hurts. The Finnish government has now announced it will send €90 million (A$101 million) worth of ammunition to Ukraine, drawing directly from proceeds generated by Russian financial assets frozen by the European Union. The Finnish defence ministry confirmed the move on Monday. The European Union is currently holding an estimated $210 billion of the roughly $300 billion in Russian assets frozen across the bloc. Much of this is tied up in government bonds and reserves once held by Russia's central bank. In a shift last year, the European Commission approved using profits earned from these assets to bolster Kyiv's military through an EU-administered fund. 'We were able to negotiate additional funding for Finland's support for Ukraine,' said Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen. 'The products are purchased from Finnish industry to boost employment at home and sent to Ukraine to help its defence. I am very pleased with the outcome.' The Kremlin has yet to respond to the announcement, though it has consistently condemned similar gestures as violations of property rights and international law. Calls for Russian money to rebuild Ukraine Last year, a group of former politicians, academics, ambassadors and doctors called on the Australian federal government to redirect $9bn of frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine. Russian oligarchs' 'dirty money' being held in Australia should also pursued, 26 signatories said in the letter. Signatories included former Prime Minister John Howard, former Russian ambassador Robert Tyson, former Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, various academics, a reverend and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott. While Australia has no legal mechanism for seizing frozen assets, the signatories say Canada, Belgium and the EU have found artful ways to redirect those frozen assets. The signatories say in the letter, addressed to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the Russian central bank has about USD$300bn of frozen assets in the West, including about AUD$9bn in Australia. The signatories want the Russian assets diverted to rebuilding Ukraine, a confirmation of how much and what type of assets are being held in Australia, and legislative change 'to ensure that Russian assets held here can be utilised to support Ukraine'. 'We make this plea because Australia can punch well above its weight at no cost to the Australian taxpayer,' they said in the letter. 'Nine billion dollars … would effectively fund the reconstruction of half of Ukraine's educational infrastructure.' A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said Australia had sanctioned 1200 people and entities in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and cut trade with Russia to 'negligible' levels. 'Australia's goal is to empower Ukraine to end the war on its terms. We will continue to provide targeted assistance to Ukraine to impose costs on Russia,' the spokesperson said.
