Roman Abramovich, a Russian billionaire with an estimated net worth of $9.7 billion, is known for his ownership of luxury yachts and the Chelsea Football Club but also for his ties with the Russian government and support for Russian military-industrial complex, according to Trap Aggressor investigation.
Despite numerous sanctions since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian oligarchs and companies still managed to evade some of them and profit, while also fueling or supporting Russian aggression.
Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK, European Union, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Ukraine, but not yet by the United States, according to Trap Aggressor.
Business and cooperation with the Russian military-industrial complex
Abramovich owns a 28.64% stake in Evraz, an international metallurgical and mining company that has been supplying raw materials to the Russian military-industrial complex for over a decade.
The company is registered in the UK and assets in Russia, the US, Canada, Czechia, Italy and Kazakhstan.
Evraz subsidiaries sold toluene, an oil refining product used in the production of explosives, to state-owned ammunition plants and supplied steel and vanadium slag (used to strengthen steel in weapons production) to Uralvagonzavod, a Russian manufacturer of tanks and civilian vehicles.
Abramovich ties to Putin and Russian government
Abramovich’s rise to power is closely linked to his connections with former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and current President Vladimir Putin. According to The Times, Abramovich played a crucial role in selecting Putin as Yeltsin’s successor and sponsored his election campaign in year 2000.
During Putin’s presidency between 2000 and 2008, Abramovich served as the governor and donor of Chukotka, an impoverished region in the Russian Far East.
Controlling a significant portion of the Russian economy in the late 1990s, Abramovich needed the support of Putin’s security forces to maintain his business interests.
Abramovich’s family lives in US, UK
The billionaire took steps to protect his wealth, transferring trusts worth over $4 billion to his seven children just weeks before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
His eldest daughter Anna graduated from Columbia University’s Faculty of Philosophy and currently lives in New York. His eldest son Arkady graduated from Northeastern University in Boston and now owns an American investment company, which has large stakes in Gazprom Neft, a Russian largest oil producer company. Two other of his daughters and a son live in the UK, while his two youngest children currently reside in New York.
Abramovich himself has been acquiring assets in Europe, including investments in European startups, despite facing asset freezes and seizures of his properties and planes in several countries.
In January 2024, Forbes USA revealed that the Target Global investment fund, which is based in London, managed tens of millions of dollars for him, facilitating investments in major European startups like Revolut and Cazoo.
Turkish media Hürriyet also reported he might have bought an $18 million mansion in Istanbul and is going to build a helipad there.
Abramovich continues to acquire assets in Europe and his children live abroad without any sanctions, despite the billionaire’s ties to the Russian government and his business fueling the war for decades, while the US has not sanctioned him yer for this.
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