- 4
- 15.09.2023 07:45:00
- 2 min read
Russian billionaires, trapped under international sanctions and pressured by Russian President Vladimir Putin, withdrew tens of billions of dollars of their assets from Europe.
The Kremlin is putting pressure on the richest citizens of Russia to return their assets to their homeland from the so-called “unfriendly” countries, writes Bloomberg.
The contract to circumvent double taxation has been suspended, in connection with which Russia is making it difficult for companies to pay dividends or sell their assets to entities registered in jurisdictions such as Europe.
In August 2023, shareholders of United Medical Group CY Plc and MD Medical Group Investments Plc, controlled by magnates Igor Shilov and Mark Kurser, approved the relocation of the companies from Cyprus to Russia.
According to Bloomberg, this process can increase the total value of assets seized by the richest people in Russia since February 2022 by at least $ 50 billion.
The material says that now the richest Russians have fewer places to settle their assets, since many of them are under sanctions from the United States, the United Kingdom or Europe.
The transfer of assets registered in places such as Cyprus, Jersey and Switzerland to Russia, as well as countries considered friendly by the Kremlin, such as the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan, began shortly after the war. Among the first moves were the family assets of billionaire Andrei Guryev and steel magnate Viktor Rashnikov, who were moved from Switzerland and Cyprus to Russia. Others, such as billionaire Igor Altushkin, followed them later.
Bloomberg reports that not only billionaires, but also other Russians are transferring their assets to their homeland. This year, 115 companies moved to the offshore zones of Russia, and their number was 254.
