-
Two private jets owned by Eugene Shvidler, Russian oil tycoon and Roman Abramovich associate, The Times reported.
-
Shvidler was sanctioned by the UK government on Thursday.
-
The planes have been seized under new laws banning Russian planes from the UK.
The UK has indefinitely detained two private jets linked to Eugene Shvidler, a billionaire oil tycoon and “right-hand man” of Roman Abramovich, The Times of London reported.
Shvidler was one of the latest oligarchs to be sanctioned on Thursday, as the UK slapped targeted 65 new individuals and businesses “fuelling [Vladimir] Putin’s war machine.”
The oligarch’s $45 million Bombardier Global 6500 jet, registered as LX-Fly, is impounded at Farnborough airport, southern England, The Times.
His $13 million Cessna Citation Latitude jet has also been seized.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps signed new laws earlier this month allowing the government to formally detain Russian aircraft and making it a criminal offense for sanctioned oligarch owners to move or fly their plans.
The UK impounded the Bombardier Global 6500 jet, which can carry 13 passengers, earlier this month while it determined its final ownership.
Ministers are deciding what to do with two seized jets. The Times reported that it is believed they could sell them if they wished to.
“Since Putin began his illegal assault, we have used every power at our disposal to crush his cronies who could financially benefit him. We’ve held jets under investigations for three weeks, and now, I am using these powers to detain them indefinitely,” Grant Shapps told The Times.
“Introducing these latest measures — detaining tens of millions of pounds worth of Russian private jets — shows this government will leave no stone unturned in depriving Putin’s cronies of their luxury toys.”
Eugene Shvidler has a net worth of $1.6 billion, according to Forbes.
He partnered with Roman Abramovich to purchase oil giant Sibneft in 1995, in what the BBC describes as a “rigged auction.”
In 2005, the Russian state-owned gas firm Gazprom paid $13 billion for 73% of Sibneft’s shares from Abramovich’s investment and asset management company Millhouse LLC, of which Shvidler is chairman.
Abramovich, who owns Chelsea F.C. football club in the UK, has had his assets frozen and was given a travel ban by the government earlier this month.
Read the original article on Business Insider
