‘Live in the Mess That Putin Has Created’: A Tour of Russian Oligarch-linked Properties in London

Mar 17, 2022 • UK government sanctions have targeted Russian oligarchs’ investments in London property after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The Guardian’s wealth correspondent, Rupert Neate, takes us on a short tour of some of the properties owned by or linked to people named in UK or EU sanctions lists. But will anyone answer the door?

Squatters Occupy Russian Billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s London Mansion

THE GUARDIAN: Group enters property in Belgrave Square and warns oligarchs: ‘you occupy Ukraine, we occupy you’

Squatters occupying Oleg Deripaska mansion at Belgrave Square in London Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian
Squatters have occupied a mansion belonging to the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska in central London in the early hours of Monday.

The five squatters in the building in Belgrave Square – two from eastern Europe, though not from Ukraine – say they feel their countries are also under threat from Vladimir Putin. Their plan is to open up the mansion, which they say “has too many rooms to count” including a cinema and a wine cellar, to Ukrainians fleeing the war, along with other refugees needing shelter.

In a message to Russian oligarchs, the squatters said: “You occupy Ukraine, we occupy you.”

A significant police presence barred entry to the cream-coloured stone building with a black front door and pillars at the entrance.

This part of London has been nicknamed “oligarchs’ quarter” because so many wealthy Russians have bought properties here, a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace. » | Diane Taylor | Monday, March 14, 2022

Ukraine: Squatters occupy Russian oligarch's London mansion: Squatters have occupied a central London mansion believed to belong to one of the oligarchs sanctioned by the UK government. »

Riot police using cherry picker storm Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska's £50million Knightsbridge 'crash-pad' after it was invaded by activists vowing to house Ukrainian refugees there »

U.K. vs. Oligarchs: ‘The Gloves Are Now Off’

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Russia’s war in Ukraine has finally led the British government to go after ultrawealthy Russians in London. But curbing the flood of corrupt money will require going after more than the big names.

A view of London. Some Britons are calling on their government to curb a phenomenon that some call the “London laundromat.” | Andrew Testa for The New York Times
LONDON — On Friday, the day after Britain blacklisted seven prominent Russian oligarchs, residents of the wealthy London borough of Kensington and Chelsea rolled a washing machine overflowing with fake pound notes in front of a multimillion-dollar townhouse belonging to the family of the president of Azerbaijan.

It was a camera-ready stunt that made a serious point: For Britain to be successful in curbing the flood of dirty money — a phenomenon some call the “London laundromat” — it needs to go further than imposing sanctions on highly visible Russians like Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of the Chelsea soccer club.

The Azerbaijani leader, Ilham Aliyev, is one of hundreds of wealthy foreigners who have exploited Britain’s lax regulations to amass property and other assets, often under a web of offshore companies that disguise their ownership. Others have parlayed their fortunes into gilt-edged social status, endowing revered British cultural and educational institutions, or donating money to the Conservative Party.

Targeting these figures will be even more challenging than going after boldface names like Mr. Abramovich, whose ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia are longstanding and well documented. But the protesters in Kensington said such an effort was crucial if Britain genuinely wanted to rid itself of the taint of dirty money. » | Mark Landler and Stephen Castle | Sunday, March 13, 2022

Londongrad: Großbritanniens Jagd auf reiche Russen I auslandsjournal

Mar 12, 2022 • Jahrelang haben russische Oligarchen in London ihr Geld geparkt. Mit den Sanktionen gegen Russland wird das jetzt schwerer. "Londongrad" gerät ins Fadenkreuz britischer Ermittler.

„Die City ist abhängig vom schmutzigen Geld“

Der Eaton Square in London heißt gelegentlich auch „Roter Platz“. | Bild: EPA
OLIGARCHEN IN LONDON
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: In der britischen Hauptstadt leben viele russische Superreiche und Oligarchen – manche nennen die Stadt daher „Londongrad“ oder „Moskau an der Themse“. Für sie wird es nun ungemütlich.

Der Eaton Square, eine der teuersten Adresse Londons, wird auch „Roter Platz“ genannt – so hoch ist die Dichte russischer Superreicher, die sich dort Luxusapartments gekauft haben. Der Milliardär und Putin-Freund Roman Abramowitsch erwarb hier vor zwei Jahrzehnten ein Haus für 28 Millionen Pfund, eine von mehreren Immobilien, die der FC-Chelsea-Eigentümer sich in der britischen Hauptstadt angeschafft hat. Auch der Oligarch Oleg Deripaska besitzt eine Residenz am Eaton Square, nur wenige Gehminuten vom Buckingham Palast und vom Botschaftsviertel entfernt. Vor den prachtvollen, sechsstöckigen Häusern aus georgianischer Zeit stehen dicke Mercedes-Autos, Rolls-Royces, Lamborghinis und Maseratis. Am Abend liegen die Häuser um den großen Platz aber fast völlig dunkel. In den Fenstern brennt kein Licht: Es wohnen hier kaum Menschen, die meisten Häuser dienen nur als Geldspeicher.

Fast drei Jahrzehnte lang hat London reiche Russen und ihr Geld mit offenen Armen empfangen. Sowohl Konservative als auch Labour wollte Investoren anlocken. In die feinen Stadtteilen Kensington und Chelsea oder Westminster kamen so viele, dass die Hauptstadt den Spitznamen „Londongrad“ oder auch „Moskau an der Themse“ erhielt. Durch sogenannte „Goldene Visa“ konnten Investoren, die mindestens 2 Millionen Pfund mitbrachten, eine Eintrittskarte fürs Königreich erwerben. Für 10 Millionen Pfund bekam man ein Expressverfahren zur Aufenthaltsgenehmigung für die Insel. Das jüngste Programm startete die Labour-Regierung im Jahr 2008 nach der Finanzkrise, um Geld auf die Insel zu holen. Von den 13.213 Investoren-Visa gingen 2600 an Russen und gut 4200 an Chinesen, die so die Eintrittskarte fürs Königreich erhielten. » | Von Philip Plickert, Wirtschaftskorrespondent mit Sitz in London. | Freitag, 25. Februar 2022

Um weiterzulesen, finden Sie die beliebtesten Abonnements der FAZ hier.

Related here and here.

Ukraine Crisis: US Sounds Alarm over Russian ‘Dirty Money’ in London

THE TIMES: Sanctions won’t work because ‘Putin’s money is in Knightsbridge’, say diplomats

American officials fear that they will be unable to impose effective sanctions on President Putin if Russia invades Ukraine because of years of British tolerance of suspect money flooding into London.

Diplomatic sources told The Times that US State Department officials had expressed “dismay and frustration” at the British government’s failure to take tough action against the flow of Russian funds, particularly in “Londongrad”. » | Catherine Philp, Diplomatic Correspondent | Chris Smyth, Whitehall Editor | Friday, January 28, 2022

Currently, The Times has a flash sale on. New subscribers are offered access to the newspaper for 3 months for just £1. View the offer here.

Fraudsters of the World, Come to London. And Bring Your Dirty Money

THE OBSERVER: Kleptocrats love this country, knowing full well they’ll be free from proper scrutiny

There is no better representation of the decline of the English upper class into the global rich’s servant class than Ben Elliot. On the one hand, the co-chairman of the Tory party is now a rent collector, hauling in money for the Johnson administration from the Russian rich and native hedge fund bosses.

On the other, he is an actual servant: an upmarket flunkey, to be sure, praised by society magazines for his “puppyish schoolboy charm”, but a flunkey nonetheless. Elliot is a founder of the Quintessentially “concierge” service that gives the super-rich anything they want: luncheon on an iceberg; the Sydney Harbour bridge closed for a wedding proposal. There’s nothing Elliot won’t do for paying customers up to and including arranging a meeting with our future sovereign. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is Elliot’s aunt and it appears that no considerations of good form or good manners have prevented him monetising the connection. Not that the prince appears to mind. A Quintessentially advert interrupts a montage of shots of yachts and celebrities to quote his royal highness as saying he is “particularly grateful” to Quintessentially for organising a party he attended. Members of Elliot’s Quintessentially club donate to the Conservatives. The Conservatives gave Elliot £1.4m of taxpayers’ money in 2016 to “attract the right high-value individual investors to the UK through bespoke programmes”. If on arrival, those high-value individuals went on to show how valuable they were by hiring Quintessentially and donating to the Tories, the circle would be complete.

Upstairs has moved downstairs in the remains of the Tory day and a large segment of British capitalism is now employed as the best servants money can buy. The law, PR, City, estate agency and banking know that easy riches come from serving the large part of the world where it pays to forget Balzac’s warning that the secret of a great fortune no one can explain is invariably an undetected crime. For want of an agreed name I propose “Corruptistan” to cover Russia and the ex-Soviet states, the kleptocracies of Africa and the Middle East and probably soon China as the communist elite learns how to expatriate its wealth. » | Nick Cohen | Saturday, December 2021

MP Warns of Financial Corruption in UK Escaping ‘Toothless’ Enforcers

THE GUARDIAN: Economic crime needs to ‘be taken seriously’ alongside tougher anti-money laundering levy, says Hodge

The Pandora Papers leak shows that the UK is in danger of becoming a corrupt country because it is failing to take economic crime seriously enough, the former chair of the public accounts watchdog told MPs, as she called for more funding for financial crime enforcers.

Dame Margaret Hodge, a senior Labour MP, raised the issue in the Commons as part of a debate on the finance bill, highlighting the central role of London in facilitating economic crime.

She said the Pandora Papers, leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and shared with media around the world including the Guardian, comprised “the largest cache of documents we have ever received” in relation to tax havens.

“The UK lies at the heart of everything revealed there,” she said. “Others have talked about secret property transactions that took place – £4bn identified in the Pandora Papers. There are more UK citizens cited in that tranche of leaks than from any other country. The relationship between the UK and our tax havens is central to the facilitation of economic crime, and again we see the weak and toothless enforcement agencies.” » | Rowena Mason, Deputy political editor | Thursday, December 2, 2021

Auch Shell verlässt die Niederlande

BRISANTER KONZERN-UMZUG
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Der Konzern zieht nun ganz nach London um. Die Politik zeigt sich „unangenehm überrascht“. Dass die steuerliche Behandlung eine Rolle spielt, erscheint offensichtlich. Inzwischen ist auch das Meinungsklima zunehmend giftig.

Die Niederlande verlieren auch ihren zweiten binationalen Industrieriesen. Der niederländisch-britische Ölkonzern Shell will – ganz ähnlich wie vor einem Jahr Unilever – seine Doppelstruktur aufgeben und ganz nach London ziehen. Dorthin soll der Steuersitz wandern, dort sollen der Vorstandsvorsitzende Ben van Beurden und Finanzchefin Jessica Uhl angesiedelt sein. Der Sitz in Den Haag hat das Nachsehen. Die Politik zeigt sich überrumpelt: „Unangenehm überrascht“ sei das Kabinett, sagte der geschäftsführende Wirtschaftsminister Stef Blok von der rechtsliberalen Partei VVD des Ministerpräsidenten Mark Rutte.

Somit verlässt innerhalb kurzer Zeit ein international bekanntes Konzernduo das Land, das viele Jahre die Liste der schwersten Mitglieder im 25 Werte umfassenden niederländischen Leitindex AEX angeführt hatte. Shell argumentierte, eine einheitliche Aktienstruktur erleichtere dem Unternehmen Rückkäufe und seine Rolle in der Energiewende. Die Anteilseigner sollen am 10. Dezember über den Plan abstimmen. Aus dem offiziellen Namen „Royal Dutch Shell“ fallen sowohl das „Königliche“ als auch das „Niederländische“ weg: als „Shell“ firmiert das Unternehmen dann. » | Von Klaus Max Smolka | Montag, 15. November 2021

Europe's Most Exclusive Furniture (Interior Design Documentary) | Abode

The peek into the world of luxury interior design focuses on Chelsea, one of London's most exclusive boroughs. Leading architect Sally Mackereth is transforming a former artist's studio into a fully furnished apartment for a luxury developer. Travelling across Europe, she collects and commissions exclusive furniture - from satin wall lining to a table made from 8,000-year old wood - as she tries to appeal to an international buyer interested in Chelsea's artistic heritage. Meanwhile, Russian property investor Julia Solovyev seeks inspiration as she sets out to furnish the Chelsea house of her dreams.

Abode is the ultimate home and gardening channel for all your DIY, Garden and Lifestyle needs. We publish unique, unexpected and untold stories from across the globe.

What Living in London Was Like During The Blitz | Cities At War: London | Timeline

This programme includes an award-winning trilogy whose theme is the miraculous resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

Breaking News: London to Enter Tier Four Covid Restrictions

The planned relaxation of Covid rules for Christmas has been scrapped for London. From midnight Sunday 20 December, a new tier four will be introduced. Those in tier four cannot mix indoors with anyone not from their household. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the changes at a Downing Street briefing after scientists said a new coronavirus variant is spreading more rapidly.

Coronavirus Protesters in London 'May Get Arrested', Police Warn

THE GUARDIAN: Officers try to disperse crowds after ‘outbreaks of violence’ at protest against restrictions
Protesters “may get arrested” if they defy orders to leave a demonstration in central London against coronavirus restrictions and mass vaccinations, the Met police has warned.

More than a thousand people are estimated to have joined the central London rally, among them 5G conspiracy theorists, coronavirus sceptics and “anti-vaxxers”.

Sections got into scuffles with police – some officers, with their batons drawn, were pushed back by crowds on the margins of the demo.

In a statement issued at 3pm on Saturday, the Met said it would take enforcement action to disperse the Resist and Act for Freedom rally following “outbreaks of violence towards officers”. » | Aaron Walawalkar and Damien Gayle | Saturday, September 19, 2020

People's Vote Marchers: ‘Brexit Is Not Done by a Long Way’

From morris dancers to a man dressed as death and everyone inbetween: the Guardian follows anti-Brexit protesters in London on Saturday as they march to demand a fresh referendum. Organisers of the march said the turnout was comparable to the previous second referendum rally six months ago, when a million people gathered in central London

Cities At War: London | World War 2 Documentary | Timeline

Police Break Down Door of Bahrain Embassy in UK after Roof Protester ‘Threatened’

Moosa Mohammed was so keen to protest the imminent execution of two men in Bahrain last month that he climbed onto the roof of the Bahraini embassy in London to unfurl a banner.

Then, as other protestors and police watched from below, the embassy staff appeared to struggle with him. In an unprecedented move police broke in and arrested him. He claims the Bahrainis threatened his life, the Bahrainis say that's ridiculous and claim they called the police fearing a terrorist attack. Mr Mohammed has spoken to our Senior Home Affairs Correspondent Simon Israel who has been investigating what really happened.

Julian Assange of WikiLeaks Arrested in London; Faces US Charge Related to Chelsea Manning Leaks

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested in London. Earlier today, British police forcibly removed Assange from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has been living since 2012. London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement that Assange was arrested on behalf of the United States authorities. The U.S. has charged Assange with helping Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning hack a government computer. The indictment was unsealed shortly after his arrest. We speak to Renata Ávila, a member of Assange’s legal team, as well as British human rights attorney Geoffrey Robertson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald and former Justice Department attorney Jesselyn Radack.

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Founder, Is Arrested in London

THE NEW YORK TIMES: LONDON — Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who released reams of secret documents that embarrassed the United States government, was arrested by the British police on Thursday at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he had lived since 2012, after Ecuador withdrew the asylum it had granted him.

President Lenín Moreno of Ecuador said on Twitter that his country had decided to stop sheltering Mr. Assange after “his repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols,” a decision that cleared the way for the British authorities to detain him.

The relationship between Mr. Assange and Ecuador has been a rocky one, even as it offered him refuge, and WikiLeaks said last Friday that Ecuador “already has an agreement with the UK for his arrest” and predicted that Mr. Assange would be expelled from the embassy “within ‘hours to days.’ ”

Video footage showed a bearded Mr. Assange being taken down the steps of the red brick embassy in the wealthy area of Knightsbridge in central London by several plainclothes police officers and put into a gray police truck that was waiting to take him away. » | Richard Pérez-Peña | Thursday, April 11, 2019

'People’s Vote' March: Up Close with Anti-Brexit Protesters at the 'Biggest Ever Demo'

The Guardian spends the day with the estimated 1 million protesters who came from all corners of the UK to London to demand a fresh referendum on Brexit. Organisers of the Put It to the People march said the protest could have been even bigger than the one against the Iraq war in February 2003

Tens of Thousands March in Pro- and Anti-Brexit Rallies

Tens of thousands of anti-Brexit campaigners have marched through central London on the second anniversary of the vote to take Britain out of the EU - demanding another referendum on any final Brexit deal.