Which Russian oligarchs were sanctioned by UK? List of billionaires with sanctions including Roman Abramovich

Russia has been subject to a raft of tough sanctions from the UK, US and EU ever since the country took the decision to invade neighbouring Ukraine.

While banks and businesses have been slapped with restrictions, individuals have also been targeted - in particular Russian oligarchs.

Those sanctioned by the UK have had their UK-based assets frozen and have been banned from entering Britain.

They are also not able to hold more than £50,000 in a UK bank account.

So far 18 oligarchs have been targeted by the UK, but who are they?

Roman Abramovich

Arguably the best well-known Russian oligarch in the UK, Roman Abramovich has now been hit with economic sanctions.

The 55-year-old billionaire came to public prominence after buying London-based Premier League football club Chelsea in 2003.

Mr Abramovich made the purchase for £60m with an addition £80m in debt, bringing the total to £140m.

Outside of the football world, Mr Abramovich made his fortune buying Russian state-owned assets through the controversial loans-for-shares privatisation scheme which was launched shortly following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

He is also the former Governor of Chukotka, an autonomous region in far east Russia, and currently own stocks in steel manufacturing company Evraz.

Mr Abramovich’s net worth is believed to be around $12.3b, according to Forbes.

The businessman was a close confidant of former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, as well as the current sitting president Vladimir Putin.

Igor Sechin

Igor Sechin is the former deputy prime minister of Russia, however it is his continued close to Vladimir Putin that has led to sanctioning.

While he left his governmental role to become CEO of Russian oil company Rosneft in 2012, the now 61-year-old did not cut his ties to the current Russian leader.

Upon Putin’s election to president in 2000, he was appointed as President Putin’s deputy chief of staff.

He rejoined him during his second term between 2008 and 2012, this time as deputy prime minister.

Mr Sechin continues to keep a close relationship with President Putin, with many branding him as “de facto deputy” of the Russian leader.

Oleg Deripaska

54-year-old Oleg Deripaska was once one of Russian wealthiest men, having founded industrial group Basic Element in 1997.

The industrialist also founded Volnoe Delo, Russia’s largest charitable foundation.

In 2018, Mr Deripaska left his high-ranking roles at energy company En+ Group and aluminum company United Company Rusal.

Alongside many other Russian oligarchs, he is noted to have a close relationship with President Putin, with Mr Deripaska referred to as the Russian Leader’s “favourite industrialist”.

Andrey Kostin

Andrey Kostin is a banker, financier and president and chair of the VTB Bank management board.

The 65-year-old was born in Moscow and formerly worked at the USSR Embassy in the UK, before working as first secretary and advisor to the European Department of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1992.

The businessman is a prominent figure in international trade, with Mr Kostin making appearances at the World Economic Forum.

In 2017, he spoke out about the “disruption” to the presidency of Donald Trump in the US, accusing the Washington elite of spreading fake news about his ties to Russia.

Alexey Miller

Alexey Miller, 60, is the current CEO of energy giant Gazprom.

Gazprom is the largest company in Russia, as well as being the world’s largest public energy supplier.

He had been appointed the Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation in 2000, before moving to the energy supplier as CEO, a position which was secured by President Putin.

Nikolai Tokarev

Nikolai Tokarev is a 71-year-old Russian businessman who is the current president of pipeline company Transneft.

The business leader was once as KGB officer based in Dresden, East Germany, where he met and allied with future leader Vladimir Putin.

Mr Tokarev is said to have taken Putin under his wing during their shared time in the KGB, with the pair sharing a long-lasting close friendship.

Dmitri Lebedev

53-year-old Dmitri Lebedev is the current CEO and chairman of Rossiya Bank.

His background is in finance, with previous roles at Central bank of Russia and Viking Bank.

EU officials have described Mr Lebedev as the personal banker of senior Russian officials, which may be key as to why he was targeted in sanctions.

he UK also shared this belief, with the government saying Rossiya Bank is “widely considered to be the Kremlin’s private bank”.

Boris Rotenberg

Boris Rotenberg is another Russian oligarch to be sanctions by the UK.

Alongside his older brother Arkady, Mr Rotenberg, 65, is the co-owner of SMP Bank.

According to Forbes, he is believed to be worth $1.2bn.

In 2014, he was also placed under sanctions by the US over his friendship with President Putin and the claims that he had been awarded billions of dollars in contracts with Russian state-backed energy firm Gazprom and for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

He was, however, not subject to EU sanctions due to having Finnish citizenship.

Igor Rotenberg

48-year-old Igor Rotenberg is the nephew of Boris and the son of Arkady.

Initially a junior partner in his father’s business, Mr Rotenberg now controls Gazprom Bureniye.

He is also a shareholder in Platon Electronic Toll Collection system.

Mr Rotenberg is believed to be worth around $1.1bn, and is linked to President Putin through his father.

He has had his assets frozen in the UK as a result of imposed sanctions.

Gennady Timchenko

One of the Russian oligarchs who has been hit by having his assets frozen in the UK is Gennady Timchenko.

Mr Timchenko is a 69-year-old oligarch and businessman who owns the private investment group, Volga Group.

He is also chairman of the Russian national hockey league KHL, president of the SKA Saint-Petersburg Hockey Club

He is believed to be worth $25.6billion.

Mr Timchenko is known as one of the most powerful people in Russia and is known to have close ties to President Vladimir Putin.

As a result the US placed the multi-billionaire under sanctions in 2014.

Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva

Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva was born in Moscow in 1977.

As a student, she studied world economics at Russian State University for the Humanities, before eventually becoming director of treasury at the defence business, Rostec group.

She is now the CEO of Novikombank, a bank which has close tied to the Russian arms industry, bankrolling Rostec.

Kirill Dmitriev

46-year-old Kirill Dmitriev is the current CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

The multi-billion pound wealth fund helps to support the Russian economy.

He is known to have close ties to President Putin. His wife, Natalia Popova, is reportedly also a close friend of Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova.

Having previously studied and worked as an investment banker in the US, he returned to his home country in 2011 to head up the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

Pyotr Fradkov

Pyotr (Petr) Fradkov is the current CEO of Promsvyazbank and son of former Russian prime minister Mikhail Fradkov.

He is noted to have close ties to Putin after meeting with the Russian president to push the bank as a key supporter of the Russian defence industry.

He has also attended roundtable discussions - which also featured President Putin - to commit Promsvyazbank’s support of the industry.

Mr Fradkov is also the current general director of the Russian Export Center.

Yury Slyusar

Yury Slyusar heads up the huge United Aircraft Corporation in Russia.

This company is a key played in Russia’s defence industry, with the business also being his with specific sanctions.

Kirill Shamalov

At just 39-years-old, Kirill Shamalov is Russia’s youngest billionaire.

He is the son of Nikolai Shamalov and boasts close personal ties to President Putin after formerly being married to his daughter Katerina Tikhonova.

The former son-in-law of the Russian leader made his name in the petrochemical industry, having bought a stake in Russian company Sibur at the age of 26.

Alisher Usmanov

Alisher Usmanov was born in former Soviet nation Uzbekistan in 1953.

Mr Usmanov made his fortunes in the metal and mining industries, as well as through investments after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

He is currently the major shareholder of Russian industrial conglomerate Metalloinvest, and also owns the Kommersant newspaper.

In the UK, he had close commercial ties to Premier League football club Everton, however the club have now cut these ties as a result of the Ukraine invasion.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index reported that as of 2022, Mr Usmanov had an estimated net worth of $18.6billion.

Igor Shuvalov

Igor Shuvalov is a former deputy prime minister in Russia and once acted as an aide to President Putin.

The 55-year-old is now the chairman of State Development Corporation VEB.RF.

He headed Russia’s bid to hold the 2018 World Cup, a bid which was ultimately successful.

Denis Bortnikov

Denis Bortnikov was born in the Leningrad region of Russia in 1974.

He is currently the deputy president of state-owned bank VTB.

As the son of Alexander Bortnikov - a former KGB member and now head of Russia’s intelligence service - Denis holds good standing with President Putin.

Bortnikov Senior is regarded as one of his closest and most loyal aides.

This family connection is what is believed to have led to Denis being targeted in the UK sanctions.

Eugene Shvidler

58-year-old Eugene Shvidler is a prominent Russian oil businessman, whose net worth is estimated to be valued at £1.2 billion.

Known to be a long-standing business partner and friend of Roman Abramovich, who was himself sanctioned on 10 March, Shvidler made his money in the oil industry during the privatisation of Russia in the 1990s.

He is currently chairman of Millhouse LLC, an investment and asset management company, and owns a $37 million home in Belgravia, London among other significant properties.

Herman Gref

Herman Gref is the CEO of Sberbank, Russia’s largest banking institution.

The UK Government described Gref as “a close adviser of President Putin since they started working together in the St Petersburg Government in the 1990s.”

He was also a colleague of Putin’s for seven years between 2000 and 2007, having served as his Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

Oleg Tinkov

This once multi-billionaire is the founder of Tinkov Bank.

His net worth was believed to be around £3.4 billion, but shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, his wealth was reassessed to just under £1 billion.

Alongside founding the Tinkov Bank, he also created a network of household appliance shops named Technoshock, as well as brewing companies and restaurants in Russia.

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