The oligarch, described as Roman Abramovich’s “right-hand man”, was sanctioned along with Chelsea’s director with a £ 10 billion asset freeze, the largest in UK history.
David Davidovic and Eugene Tenenbaum are longtime business partners of Abramovich, the outgoing owner of Chelsea, the foreign ministry said.
The move means a total of 106 oligarchs, family members and collaborators have been sanctioned since the start of the war in Ukraine in February.
Mr. Tenenbaum is the director of Chelsea FC and describes himself as one of Mr Abramovich’s closest business associates.
The foreign ministry said corporate documents show he took control of Evrington Investments, an affiliate of Abramovich’s investment company, on February 24, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Davidovic has been described as “Abramovich’s much lower right-hand man” and took over Evrington Investments from Mr Tenenbaum in March, the foreign ministry said.
Image: Abramovich and Eugene Tenenbaum
Mr Davidovic is already subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban.
The State Department said the estimated £ 10 billion in sanctions against the two men was the largest asset freeze in UK history.
The sanctions will prevent the money from being repatriated to Russia and used to finance President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Regarding the new sanctions, Foreign Minister Liz Truss said: “We are tightening the ratchet of Putin’s military machine and targeting the circle of people closest to the Kremlin. We will continue to impose sanctions until Putin fails in Ukraine. Nothing and no one is off the table. “
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0:20 From March: Roman Abramovich at the peace talks in Ukraine
Sanctions against Mr Tenenbaum and Mr Davidovich came after the Normandy island of Jersey said this week that they were freezing approximately $ 7 billion (£ 5.4 billion) in assets allegedly linked to Mr Mr. Abramovich.
The 55-year-old footballer, best known as the owner of Chelsea FC, put the club up for sale days before it was sanctioned by the UK government in March.
The Russian oligarch has long denied ties to the Putin regime, but has not spoken out publicly against the war since it broke out.
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Mr Abramovich’s superyachts have landed in southwestern Turkey, where they will not face sanctions.
However, states, including Antigua and Barbuda, have agreed to help Britain seize yachts owned by the businessman.
The analysis shows that Russia is heading for the deepest recession since the collapse of the Soviet Union with 275 billion British pounds – 60% of Russia’s foreign exchange reserves – are currently frozen.
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