The British government has allowed Russian sanctioned oligarchs to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on private chefs, drivers and domestic workers, even though their bank accounts are frozen.
This was reported by The New York Times with reference to relevant documents.
Money is allowed to be spent through separate licenses issued by the government. In some cases, oligarchs were allowed to spend more than a million dollars a year on living. Last year, the UK Treasury issued at least 82 licences, with a significant number pending.
According to the documents, the founder of Alfa Bank Mykhailo Fridman received a license to pay for the services of domestic staff consisting of 19 employees. For ten months, the amount of payments amounted to almost $400 000. Friedman also received a monthly allowance of $9 000 to cover "the basic needs of his family." His former business partner Peter Aven was allowed a monthly allowance of $77 000. Most goes to the security company.
Licenses are part of sanctioning systems around the world, particularly in the US. But while Washington usually issues licenses for humanitarian reasons or to cover basic living and legal expenses, the British criteria are broader. A recent government report says licenses are "issued to protect individual and business needs in the UK".
- On July 20, 2023, Britain lifted sanctions against Russian businessman Oleh Tinkov (creator of the sanctioned bank Tinkoff). The reasons for this were not announced. Tinkov has been under sanctions since March 2022. They provided for the seizure of assets and a ban on providing trust services. After Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Tinkov opposed the war and later renounced his Russian citizenship. In April 2022, his bank Tinkoff stated that the businessman was no longer their employee.