Russian oligarchs’ private planes continue to fly over Europe despite sanctions

An investigation by the Guardian and a consortium of journalists has exposed the movements of Russian billionaires’ private jets in the weeks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, following sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom and the European Union.

It appears that private planes associated with Russian oligarchs and politicians have continued to fly to airports in the European Union and the United Kingdom, despite sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine that banned transit through European airspace. This information was published on Thursday by a British newspaper Watchmanwho conducted the investigation, in cooperation with Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project – in Portuguese, the Organized Crime Reporting Project, a union of journalists and international media – business movements such as Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov, or politicians such as Igor Shuvalov, the former Russian deputy prime minister.

The Guardian’s analysis also showed that in the week after the invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, planes linked to the powerful Russians flew like never before to the United Arab Emirates, which is a favorite financial and entertainment center for the oligarchs linked to them. The Kremlin.

The British newspaper adds that the UAE has been described as the “Switzerland of the Persian Gulf”, due to the level of banking secrecy: many organizations that fight for financial transparency have highlighted that few have been prevented from working in other financial centers who have traveled to the United States. Emirates Airlines to organize their business.

According to data collected through the now-published investigation, planes linked to Roman Abramovich, a former Chelsea owner who has a Portuguese passport, were moving in the weeks following the invasion of Ukraine, which will lead to sanctions against the businessman. In the United Kingdom and in the European Union. One of the aircraft that will belong to Abramovich, the Bombardier Global 6000, is now in Latvia, unable to fly because local authorities requested information about the ownership of the aircraft from Luxembourg, where it was registered. If it is confirmed that the plane belongs to Abramovich – which will have at least three other private planes on it – the authorities will confiscate it, the head of the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency, Ives Vincives, told local media.

Penalties do not provide for fuel costs

Eugene Schweedler, Abramovich’s business partner, also saw two jet planes seized by British authorities, at Biggin Hills airports, in the London area, and Farnborough, in Hampshire. According to the site Flytradar 24, which tracks flight data, one of the Shvidler’s planes left Beijing Hill for Farnborough on February 27 and, later that day, flew to the United States, landing at an airport outside New York. He returned to the UK on 4 March, two days after the ban on Russian aircraft in British airspace took effect.

It is mentioned that the European sanctions rules allow those targeted by sanctions to make payments that meet “basic needs”, but they do not provide for spending on private aircraft movement, that is, the purchase of fuel.

A spokesman for Schweedler confirmed that there were no violations of the law, stressing that the businessman is not a Russian citizen and has no ties to the Kremlin. But planes belonging to other leaders linked to Abramovich and even Ukrainian opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk have flown from Europe to the United Arab Emirates. A Boeing 737 linked to oligarch Andrey Melnichenko – whose luxury yacht was seized by Italian authorities earlier this month – flew to Dubai on March 9, according to Flightradar, and is under investigation in Luxembourg, where it was recorded. A spokesperson for Melnichenko emphasized that the businessman had nothing to do with the “tragic events” in Ukraine and had no political affiliations, so there was no justification for being part of the list subject to sanctions in Europe.

As far as Igor Shuvalov is concerned, planes linked to the Russian deputy prime minister have been spotted flying to and from airports in the European Union after Brussels imposed sanctions on them. Bombardier Global Express has made several flights between Geneva, Munich, Paris, Milan and Helsinki, although flight records do not show who was on board, which cost about 10 million US dollars, roughly 8.9 million euros.

Few deny misconduct

Billionaire Alisher Usmanov, born in Uzbekistan, is also associated with two planes that flew to and from European airports after preventing Russian-owned or Russian-registered planes from entering the airspace of the ancient continent.

Usmanov, who owned 30% of the English club Arsenal, is one of the richest men in Russia, the owner of USM, with businesses in metallurgy, mining, technology and communications. DC was one of the main sponsors for Everton until early March. Usmanov uses the Airbus A340 for his flights, the commercial version of which can carry up to 370 passengers.

This same aircraft, which has a personal decoration on the fuselage, and is painted in shades of dark red, has the tail number MI-ABU, which means “I am Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov”, meaning “I am Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov”, in Portuguese. It is one of the largest private jets in Russia and will cost between 350 and 500 million dollars (315 to 450 million euros).

On February 28, after the invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of European sanctions, the A340 departed Munich, Germany; The last recorded data transferred him to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, on the same day. Also on February 28, a plane linked to Usmanov left Florence, Italy, for Uzbek territory.

Usmanov’s spokesman told the Guardian that the sanctions against him were based on “incorrect” information that assumed he had privileged ties to the Kremlin, adding that ownership of the billionaire’s assets, including aircraft, had been transferred to an irrevocable trust. It does not provide for changes to be made after signing the contract and this means that the owner of the movable assets loses the right of ownership over the assets.

“Given the fact that the MI-ABU on which they were based is not owned or controlled by Mr. Usmanov, and can only be used on loan terms, there is no legal basis for any prohibition regarding individual sanctions imposed on it,” the same source said.