After spy is poisoned, Britain mulls closing door to London for Russia's rich

[webfact]

After spy is poisoned, Britain mulls closing door to London for Russia's rich

By Polina Ivanova

 

Members of the emergency services wearing protective clothing work near the bench where former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found poisoned in Salisbury, Britain, March 13, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

 

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Britain's response to the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal on its soil, using a nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union, could hit members of the Russian elite hard if it closes the door on their London lifestyles.

 

Britain gave Russian President Vladimir Putin until midnight on Tuesday to provide an explanation for the attack, and is due to consider its official response on Wednesday.

 

One possible counter-measure, suggested by British lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, could involve denying Russia's so-called oligarchs access to the luxuries of London, where many have channelled their fortunes, traded their companies and relocated their family lives.

 

Most prominent among the residents of "Londongrad", as the British capital has been nicknamed for its popularity among the Russian elite, are Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov, respectively owner and major shareholder of the English football clubs Chelsea and Arsenal.

 

But they are far from alone. Around 10-15 percent of the 96 Russians on the so-called "oligarch list" published by the U.S. Treasury Department in January could have close ties to Britain, according to Vladimir Ashurkov, a businessman and critic of the Kremlin based in London.

 

"It's very possible that Britain will take measures that could affect these individuals," Ashurkov said.

 

"We know that London is a large haven for money that come from Russia ... Britain has the capacity to investigate this money and the activity of specific people," he added.

 

Among the best-known are a group of long-time business partners associated with the investment vehicle LetterOne, which sports three offices in London's wealthy Mayfair district alone.

 

The firm's founder, Mikhail Fridman, owns a mansion in London's Highgate, according to the company restoring the property.

 

One of the firm's investors, Petr Aven, has given journalists tours around his estate in Surrey, in the southeast of England.

 

Cutting Russians off from the British education system would also sting. One of Fridman's children attends a prestigious British boarding school, photos on his social media account suggest.

 

Two sons of Russian entrepreneur and Tinkoff Bank owner Oleg Tinkov attend private school in Britain, according to their LinkedIn and Facebook profiles.

 

And two of Aven's children have described attending school in Britain before going on to study at Yale University in the United States.

Some wealthy Russians are in London specifically because they have fallen foul of the Kremlin.

 

After being fired as Moscow mayor in 2010, Yuri Luzhkov moved his family to London, saying he feared for their safety.

 

Last December Yelena Baturina, his wife and Russia's wealthiest woman, was made a director of the charity the Mayor's Fund for London, according to Britain's business directory Companies House.

 

Their daughter Olga studied at University College London, her social media accounts show.

 

It is by no means certain that oligarchs bringing their money home would receive a warm welcome, said Christopher Weafer, senior partner at Macro-Advisory, a consultancy in Moscow.

 

"Oligarchs could find themselves in the middle, in the firing ground as it were," Weafer said.

 

"They could be the target of sanctions applied by the UK government, but on the other hand they will get absolutely no sympathy in Russia, because they brought their money out and spent it outside the country."

 

Reuters has no evidence that any of the people mentioned, or their businesses, are going to be subject to any new British restrictions.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-14

[geriatrickid]

Won't happen. The City bankers make too much money off of these Russians. The profits of a select few take priority over the national security.

[NanLaew]

When you let the garbage pile up, it does tend to attract vermin.

[zaphod reborn]

41 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

Won't happen. The City bankers make too much money off of these Russians. The profits of a select few take priority over the national security.

In the U.S., if they deported all the Russian oligarchs, the GOP and NRA would go bankrupt.

[Proboscis]

You don't have to go as far as banning them. Instead, you fill them full of bureaucracy. All of those residing in the UK who have not fled Russia for fear of persecution should now be considered suspect aliens.

 

To purchase a house, fill out the forms and show up for an interview and wait in line.

 

To send your child to any school, fill out the forms and show up for an interview.

 

To open a bank account, fill out the forms and go for an interview and prove where the money came from.

 

To start a company, fill out the forms etc. And if you are Russian and caught hiding behind some nominees in a tax haven, you go to jail under the "Suspect Aliens Act" that can be passed in parliament for the citizens of countries who send assassins to kill British citizens.

 

And, by the way, same as in Russia where foreigner residents have to meet stringent conditions, Russians will need different stamps and tags with their papers at all times which change frequently "for security reasons"  - an infringement? you spend the night in the cells or pay a huge fine. Too many infringements, you face deportation

 

And every time one of them complains, you tell them that they are the citizens of a country whose government policy is to send assassins to murder British citizens. And as long as this is not acknowledged by the Kremlin and appologised publicly for with assurances that it will not happen ever again, the status will remain.

 

I would exempt those who come as political asylum seekers from Russia and who give up their Russian citizenship, adopt British citizenship and obey the law.

 

Investigate all Russian investment transactions in the UK for the past ten years. Anyone who has done anything wrong in that or any other regard or anything that looks like funny money, freeze their bank accounts. That will get their attention.

 

Get the other EU countries to do the same, and pretty soon the Russians will come around. And this is the time to do it when the demand for gas is going down due to winter receeding. Remember, Russian needs Europe to buy its gas more than Europe needs the gas. Such gas can be transported by ship in liquid form - might make it more expensive for Europeans but Russia would starve without the foreign currency from gas sales.

[RobFord]

They aren’t being poisoned by Russian oligarchs. This is revenge by the Russian secret services, pure and simple, either directly ordered by Putin or with his tacit approval. 

Putin is supported by a mafia state of oligarchs. They either support him, or die, or are imprisoned. 

 

http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/09/a-brief-history-of-attempted-russian-assassinations-by-poison/

[soalbundy]

Yeah right, May will hit the Oligarch's 

[RichardColeman]

Chelsea fans will be hitting a brick !

[dunroaming]

Hot air and bluster.  There will be diplomats kicked out for a while resulting in a tit for tat by the Russians.  Putin is guilty of some despicable things and although this is not acceptable it is, in reality, pretty small beer in comparison.

[RickBradford]

Even if the British government decided to get tough on wealthy foreigners stashing ill-gotten loot in the country, it lacks the ability to carry out those measures.

 

Laws have to be efficiently enforced, and the British civil service (ha!) is simply not up to the task, as one Tory MP noted recently, as it has been emasculated by 40 years of rubber-stamping Brussels diktat.

 

The Home Office, shortly to be renamed the Centre for Diversity, Inclusion and Protection, has no idea who's in the country at any time or where their money comes from.

 

An empty gesture, at best. After all, the UK wouldn't want Gazprom to turn off the tap, would it?

 

 

[Ulic]

Ban Russian politicians, military, and their families. Don't worry about the

Oligarchs. For the most part, they are escaping Russia with their

ill-gotten gains. If they stayed in Russia Putin and his circle would

be relieving them of their assets.  

[lannarebirth]

21 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

Won't happen. The City bankers make too much money off of these Russians. The profits of a select few take priority over the national security.

It's all just lip service. The largest sector of the British economy is based on money laundering and tax avoidance.

[meechai]

16 hours ago, RobFord said:

They aren’t being poisoned by Russian oligarchs. This is revenge by the Russian secret services, pure and simple, either directly ordered by Putin or with his tacit approval. 

Putin is supported by a mafia state of oligarchs. They either support him, or die, or are imprisoned. 

 

 

I would think they (Russian SS) are also smart enough to kill using something other than

" a nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union"

 

The fact it went that way screams black flag. They wanted pointers left so the killer used this.

Doubt the SS would be so stupid more likely a CIA game

Edited March 15, 2018 by meechai

[OJAS]

15 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Chelsea fans will be hitting a brick !

As will Arsenal fans by the sound of things!

 

Borth clubs can therefore probably kiss goodbye to any chances of participating in the Champions' League for the time being if their principal sources of finance for dabbles in the transfer market dry up.

Edited March 15, 2018 by OJAS