London, Thanasis Gavos

“The biggest leak of financial data from Cyprus raises concerns about the role of the EU state in the management of Russian assets,” reports the British newspaper Guardian, which is part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) journalism group that published the so-called files Cyprus Confidential.

The paper’s main article notes that the 3.6 million documents, covering the mid-1990s to April 2022, reveal the role of PwC Cyprus and other advisers in the transactions and transfers of assets of Russian oligarchs worth hundreds of millions in an attempt to avoid international sanctions.

Included in the documents over 650 companies and trusts in Cyprus owned or controlled by Russians which have been sanctioned since 2014, i.e. from the annexation of Crimea to the war in Ukraine.

Indicatively, it is noted that of the 104 Russian billionaires on the Forbes rich list in 2023, two out of three appear in the documents together with their relatives as clients of professional service providers in Cyprus. Thus “the scale of Cyprus’ role as a gateway to Europe for the Kremlin-linked elites” is revealed.

Specifically there are documents for 71 Russian clients of companies in Cyprus that have been under sanctions since March 2022, although many of these business relationships are said to have now ended.

The publication emphasizes that Cyprus pledged after the revelations to tighten controls in its financial sector. The Cypriot government, writes the Guardian, has responded by promising a “zero tolerance approach” to sanctions violations as it struggles to preserve the country’s status as a financial centre.

The representative of the Cypriot government told the Consortium that Cyprus is receiving technical support from the British government to set up a sanctions unit next year, with the plan to be submitted within the month. Also, the representative said that Cyprus joined an EU transnational program for the effective enforcement of sanctions.

Kon/nos Letympiotis, according to the Guardian, also stated, among other things, that “our government is unquestionably committed to the fight against corruption and illegal financial actions and is taking all the necessary actions to ensure the full implementation of EU sanctions.”

Among the revelations is how PwC Cyprus and other advisers helped powerful oligarch Alexei Mordasov attempt to transfer a £1 billion stake he held in travel giant Tui to his partner Marina, on the day he was sanctioned by the EU (28/2/22).

The Cypriot Ministry of Finance has opened a criminal investigation into the case, while PwC commented that any accusation is taken seriously and investigated.

The documents also reveal the role of “murky offshore structures” in the secret funding of a prominent German journalist, as well as possible breaches of rules surrounding the funding of football clubs.

Journalist Hubert Seipel allegedly received 600,000 from companies connected to Mordashov to support the publication of two books about Putin.

As for the football club, payments of tens of millions through offshore structures by the Roman Abramovich during his time as owner of Chelsea to agents and other football executives.

Undisclosed payments that allowed Abramovich and super-agent Pini Zahavi to control the careers of 21 young footballers are also revealed.