In the details of a 421-page case file on a dark case there is a suggestion about a meeting at a restaurant in Geneva, where two businessmen discussed about “a yacht offered to Mr. Putin».
This small reference, contained in a 2010 London court ruling on a shipping company, is a rare public reference linking Putin to any of the luxury yachts, aircraft or lodges he allegedly owns. But all of this has taken on a new meaning as authorities in America and Europe chase after him hidden wealth of the Russian president and its cycle, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The British court document contains an indication of why it was so difficult to clearly link the Russian president to his rumored wealth. The yacht, called Olympia, was operated by a company in Cyprus, where company records show that the real owner was not Mr Putin but the Russian government.
Indeed, it is one of the many outrageous assets that have long been speculated to belong to Putin, which is in fact owned or controlled by the state, showing how the private interests of the president and his inner circle have merged with those of the ruling government. two decades. Others include a huge resort, a fleet of expensive cars, fancy planes and even more yachts.
The United States and its allies have set up a multinational task force to monitor and seize the assets of at least 50 wealthy Russians, including Mr Putin, and have announced rewards for intelligence assistance. However, some analysts question whether it will have a major impact on the Russian president, who has never been found to have much personal value worth confiscating.
While there has been a great deal of media and public debate that Mr. Putin’s oligarchs and old friends could secretly keep valuable assets on his account or keep his cash on his account in foreign companies and Swiss bank accounts, many of them its most obvious luxuries are embedded in the state.
Alina Poliakova, a Russian foreign affairs expert and head of the Center for European Policy Analysis, told the New York Times that because government resources and services were probably used to shield at least some of his alleged wealth, Putin’s personal targets were mainly symbolic.
“In order to get closer to him, we also have to impose sanctions on the entire Russian government,” he said. “And, of course, there are reasons why Europe and the United States are not prepared to do that.”
Exceptions
The economic blockade of the entire Russian state would mean, for example, the blockade of Gazprom, one of the largest energy companies in the world and a major source of gas in Europe. The company has faced only limited sanctions aimed primarily at restricting purchases of certain debts and equity, even as global anger over Russia’s apparent atrocities in Ukraine escalates.
However, Gazprom is linked to Putin’s estimated wealth. Although luxury real estate seems to have little to do with its core mission, the state-owned gas company has built a luxury haven enjoyed by the Russian president in a mountainous region of Siberia. Despite allegations that the project was not linked to the Kremlin, a report by former Deputy Prime Minister and Putin critic Boris Nemtsov noted that the site was “securely provided by the FSO” – the federal security service commissioned. to the Russian president and other high-ranking officials.
The mountain resort was among the 20 properties described in Nemtsov’s 2012 report available to Putin, along with dozens of luxury jets, four yachts and 11 watches with a retail value of nearly $ 700,000, allegedly paid for with public funds.
Nemtsov was assassinated in 2015, shot in the back while crossing a bridge overlooking the Kremlin.
Due to the efforts of a few independent news organizations in Russia before the recent crackdown on freedom of speech, as well as the voices of the opposition such as Nemtsov and Alexei Navalny, the idea that Putin is living richly at the expense of taxpayers is no secret. . The Russian ruler has long denied that he lives beyond his means – officially, he receives a salary of about $ 140,000 and has a small apartment in Moscow. However, his spokesman told a Russian newspaper in response to Nemtsov’s allegations that the Russian president was also using government housing and vehicles “in accordance with the law”.
Cypriot companies
A leak from a law firm in Bermuda reveals offshore activities by several Russian-controlled companies, such as investment bank VTB Capital and Gazprom.
Another document concerned the purchase of a private aircraft Bombardier Global 6000 for $ 53.9 million by an unknown Cypriot company, Genetechma Finance Ltd.
Appleby records show that Genetechma eventually operated on behalf of VEB, a state-owned economic development bank linked to the Russian intelligence service. VEB, whose president allegedly used private jets, controlled the Cypriot Genetechma through a subsidiary in Luxembourg.
A different Cypriot company appeared in the ownership chain of the Olympia yacht, whose relationship with Mr. Putin appeared in British court documents. The case involved complex allegations of collusion between executives at several Russian shipping companies, including Sovcomflot, which is primarily owned by the Russian government.
In a 2010 London court ruling, Judge Andrew Smith described how a number of players involved had attributed their influence to the “good relationship” with Mr Putin and, in one case, recalled a meeting at the Lipp Brasserie in Geneva where Olympia’s gift to him was mentioned. The yacht, estimated to cost $ 35-50 million in 2002 and reportedly equipped with marble baths, extensive gilding and a jacuzzi, is said to be “managed by Unicom”, a company based in Cyprus.
Corporate records in Cyprus, which in recent years has become more stringent in terms of transparency requirements, show that Unicom belonged to a Bermuda company, whose “ultimate parent company” was a state-owned shipping company in Russia.
The Cayman Islands-flagged Olympia was last known to be in the Baltic Sea near St. Petersburg.
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