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UK sanctions two of Roman Abramovich's business associates,

15 April 2022 04:49 (UTC +04:00)

Britain has sanctioned two “key Russian oligarchs” connected to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, freezing up to $13 billion of assets linked to Eugene Tenenbaum and David Davidovich in “the largest asset freeze action in UK history,” the Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday, APA reports.

Tenenbaum is one of Abramovich’s closest associates and was previously a top executive at Sibneft, the Russian oil company sold by Abramovich in 2006, according to Chelsea Football Club, where he is a director. The Foreign Office said he took over an investment company with ties to Abramovich on Feb. 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine.

The UK has also put a travel ban on Davidovich, another “longstanding” business associate of Abramovich, according to the Foreign Office.

“Davidovich has been described by Forbes as ‘Abramovich’s much lower profile right hand man,’ and took over Evrington Investments from Tenenbaum in March 2022,” it added.

The British government said the sanctions were coordinated with Jersey authorities, who CNN reported earlier this week froze more than $7 billion dollars’ worth of assets “suspected to be connected” to Abramovich.

“We are tightening the ratchet on Putin’s war machine and targeting the circle of people closest to the Kremlin. We will keep going with sanctions until Putin fails in Ukraine. Nothing and no one is off the table,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was quoted saying in the statement.