LONDON, April 12, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Britain and the US targeted fresh
sanctions Wednesday at Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov and Cyprus-based
"financial fixers" who allegedly help mask his assets as well as those of
fellow Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

The two countries together added dozens of figures and companies tied to
the oligarchs on their financial blacklists, in an ongoing effort to crimp the
activities of powerful figures accused of supporting the government of Russian
President Vladimir Putin and his war on Ukraine.

At the same time, Washington slapped sanctions on firms in Hong Kong,
Turkey and the UAE which it said were selling drones and electronics, including
US-made semiconductors, to Russia's defense sector.

The State Department singled out a Chinese company, Head Aerospace
Technology, which it said was selling satellite imagery to Russia's mercenary
Wagner group, and also blacklisted Patriot PMC, another Russian private militia
it said was tied to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

"We are closing the net on the Russian elite and those who try to help them
hide their money for war," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a
statement, vowing there would be "no place to hide".

"As the Kremlin seeks ways around the expansive multilateral sanctions and
export controls imposed on Russia for its war against Ukraine, the United
States and our allies and partners will continue to disrupt evasion schemes
that support Putin on the battlefield," said US Treasury Under Secretary Brian
Nelson.

The UK and US sanctions singled out USM Holding and other key companies and
executives in the network of Usmanov, the Uzbekistan-born iron and steel
magnate who controls Metalloinvest and whose worth is estimated by Bloomberg at
$18.7 billion.

The US Treasury said Usmanov is close to Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, the
former Russian president and now deputy chairman of the Russian Security
Council.

Last year German authorities raided several of his properties for alleged
tax evasion and reportedly seized his mega-yacht Dilbar.

- Cypriot fixers -

Usmanov has "a wide network of businesses in financial safe-havens"
including Cyprus which, helped by family members, he uses to move money that
could circumvent sanctions, according to the US Treasury.

UK's Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FDCO) placed sanctions on
Cypriot "professional enablers" Demetris Ioannides and Christodoulos
Vassiliades, who allegedly help powerful Russians like Usmanov and previously
sanctioned Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea Football Club, skirt
Western controls.

Ioannides crafted "murky offshore structures" used by Abramovich to hide
over £760 million in assets before being sanctioned last year, while lawyer
Vassiliades developed trusts and offshore companies utilised by Usmanov, the US
government said.

Washington added a third Cypriot fixer, Demetrios Serghides, to its
sanctions blacklist, saying he helped buy and manage assets like real estate
for Usmanov and his family.
- 'We won't stop' -

The FCDO -- which has announced several tranches of sanctions over the last
14 months -- said its latest also target family members of oligarchs, who are
used as "proxies to hide their assets".

They include Ukrainian TV presenter Oksana Marchenko, whose Ukrainian
tycoon husband Viktor Medvedchuk was a former lawmaker sent to Russia alongside
his spouse in a prisoner swap last year.

Both the US and UK sanctions bodies also added other Russian tycoons and
their families to their blacklists, including Andrei Skoch, which the FCDO
called the "richest man in the Duma," and telecoms billionaire Vladimir
Evtushenkov.

"Together with our international partners the UK will continue to crack
down on those who are supporting the war. We won't stop until (Russian
President Vladimir) Putin does," said Cleverly.