From Aven to Usmanov: Who Are the Sanctioned Oligarchs?

No more luxury trips to the Cote d’Azur or the Swiss Alps: The EU has imposed an entry ban on some Russian Kremlin-loyal oligarchs and frozen their assets. They fight back.

Alexey Mordashov no longer understands the world. According to Forbes, the fourth richest Russian is on the latest EU sanctions list along with 25 other wealthy colleagues. “I cannot understand how these sanctions against me are supposed to help settle the terrible conflict in Ukraine,” said the oligarch and major TUI shareholder on Tuesday night. “I have been involved in the development of economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation between many European countries for a very long time.”

TUI major shareholder Alexei Mordashov

In fact, the father of seven, who built his fortune with the steel business, is considered the “nice oligarch next door”. In the past, German managers praised Mordashov as the mastermind behind German-Russian economic relations. Klaus Mangold, the former head of the German Economic Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, praised the Russian as “a great entrepreneur with far-reaching prospects”. He was a “rock in the surf” when working for German-Russian trade relations.

Mordashov, who speaks fluent German, joined TUI in 2007 and now owns a good third of the shares in the travel group. Even during the Corona crisis, in which the state saved TUI from bankruptcy, he stuck to his commitment.

However, the 55-year-old steel magnate, whose holding company is now also invested in the Russian supermarket chain Lenta, the online retailer Utkonos and in education and health companies, is considered loyal to the Kremlin. As early as 2009, the business daily Kommersant scoffed at Putin’s audiences and said he sat there like a kindergarten boy waiting for his porridge.

AlfaBank boss Mikhail Fridman

In addition to the TUI major shareholder Mordashov, the multi-billionaire Michael Fridman is also on the sanctions list. The 57-year-old is the owner of the Alfa Group, which includes AlfaBank, one of Russia’s largest private financial institutions. Alfa is also involved in mobile communications and supermarkets. In 2006, the businessman wanted to set up a “Eurasian Vodafone” with MTS and megaphone.

At times, Fridman was also a major shareholder in the third largest Russian oil company TNK-BP and took over the German oil company Dea, which then merged with the BASF subsidiary Wintershall. In 2016, Fridman announced that he would be donating virtually his entire fortune to charity.

Brussels describes the Alfa Bank boss as a “leading Russian financier and supporter of Putin’s inner circle”. Fridman rejected these allegations. It is untrue that he maintained “close ties” with President Putin’s government.

Banker Pyotr Aven

Fridman’s business partner Pjotr ​​Aven also wants to take action against the sanctions. The EU calls him “one of Putin’s closest oligarchs.” Together with Mikhail Fridman, Aven is fighting against the measures imposed, such as the ban on entry into the EU and the freezing of assets. The allegations are “thin and unfounded,” said Fridman and Aven. Both billionaires also called it incorrect that they are “unofficial envoys of the Russian government”. “These are malicious and willful falsehoods.

Pjotr ​​Aven has been President of AlfaBank since 1994. He was previously foreign trade minister and a member of the reform bloc of the first post-Soviet government. The banker now spends half the year in London.

In the past, the enthusiastic art collector even managed to get into the feature pages of newspapers. With his criticism of the book by the writer Zakhar Prilepin, he triggered a kind of class struggle on the Internet. Prilepin denounced official arbitrariness and the impossibility of honestly prospering in Russia. Aven replied that the world is not perfect. But it gets better when someone plants a tree, builds a house and washes their socks, but not when someone gets drunk, feels sorry for them and riots – like the heroes of Prilepin’s novels. According to Aven, these are self-righteous adolescent types who use violence to hide their own mediocrity.

In an interview with “Welt” 14 years ago, Aven explained the Russian folk soul. “Russia is not Western Europe, where you plan for the long term.” It’s a traditional part of the culture of a people who were always invaded by someone. Therefore, “the sense of stability is far less developed than in the West”.

Transneft boss Nikolai Tokarev

The other oligarchs who are on the European sanctions list are less known to the European public. For example, Nikolai Tokarew, head of the oil pipeline operator Transneft. In early 2021, his name was mentioned in connection with Putin’s “splendid palace” on the Black Sea coast near Gelendzhik. Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny accused Tokarev of indirectly financing the palace with Transneft. The funds are said to come from bogus contracts and machinations in which several state-owned companies, including Transneft, were involved.

Almost three years ago, Tokarev came under criticism and had to be disciplined by Putin. Because of polluted raw materials in the “Druschba” (“Friendship”) pipeline, Russian oil supplies to Germany, among others, have been interrupted. The Kremlin boss instructed Tokarew, whom he knows from the old KGB days, to better monitor the lines.

Rosneft boss Igor Sechin

Igor Sechin, head of the state-owned company Rosneft, also plays an important role in the Russian oil business. The 61-year-old has been on the US sanctions list since the annexation of Crimea. Sechin has been a close confidant of Putin since the 1990s. As deputy head of the presidential administration, he ordered the breakup of what was once the largest oil company, Yukos, and its takeover by Rosneft. Sechin was then appointed Rosneft boss.

With an intrigue, Sechin brought down the Russian Economy Minister Alexey Ulyukayev in 2016 and later imprisoned him. According to media reports, no other business boss is shown on Russian television with Putin as often as the Rosneft boss.

Media mogul Alisher Usmanov

And then there is Alisher Usmanov, who is on the EU sanctions list. The 68-year-old multi-billionaire with an estimated net worth of $16.8 billion is best known to British football fans. He was once a major shareholder in Arsenal FC. Usmanov was also held in high esteem in the International Olympic Committee (IOC). IOC President Thomas Bach once awarded him the “Trophy for Olympic Values”. The media mogul has been world president of the fencing association since 2008. Today he announced his retirement.

Usmanow called the sanctions “unfair”, spoke of “false and defamatory allegations” and wants to take legal action against them. He heads the holding company USM, which makes its money from metals, mining and telecommunications. Kremlin critic Navalny recently accused Usmanov of financing the Kremlin. The oligarch responded with the phrase “I spit on you” with a video from his 154-meter yacht, according to the Guardian. Usmanow is also said to own real estate on Tegernsee.

The legend of the barbecue

How the Russian oligarchs managed to gain so much power is unclear. The legend of a barbecue hosted by Putin in May 2000, to which he invited the country’s business magnates, has been handed down in the media. He is said to have offered them to let the Wild West past rest and not to hinder the businesses of the rich as long as the billionaires stay out of politics and pay taxes.

Putin severely punished anyone who did get involved in politics. The powerful oil manager Mikhail Khodorkovsky was expropriated and imprisoned for years. And even Roman Abramovich, a billionaire thanks to oil deals and owner of the London football club Chelsea FC, had to do patriotic service – as governor in the remote Chukotka region.