The story of Putin’s stone-rich oligarchs

After the Ukraine War, the United States and a number of other countries have imposed personal sanctions on Russian oligarchs and their family members. Photos of the oligarchs’ luxury yachts, private jets and palaces are published around the world, and demands are raised that their assets be confiscated.

The oligarchs near Vladimir Putin

Oligarchs who support President Vladimir Putin have benefited from their ties to the president, while those who challenge Putin’s power risk being severely punished. Russian billionaire Yuri Kovalchuk is a close friend of Russia’s president and is often referred to as “Putin’s personal banker”. Kovaltjuk owns, among other things, some of Russia’s most influential TV channels and is considered to have great power over the information that is conveyed, for example about the war in Ukraine. The oligarch Alisher Usmanov leads a huge conglomerate of companies in the mining industry and the telecom industry. He is something of a mystery but is listed by the EU as “one of Putin’s favorite oligarchs”. Usmanov is considered one of the 100 richest in the world and owns the world’s most expensive and heaviest luxury yacht.

Roman Abramovich wants to sell Chelsea

Another of the most well-known oligarchs is Roman Abramovich who is listed as one of the world’s richest men and who has made large fortunes, among other things, by owning oil companies. Abramovich currently owns the football club Chelsea, but after sanctions were imposed on him, he plans to sell the club. During the Ukraine War, Abramovich has been involved in negotiations between the parties.

Participants: Johanna Melén and Maria Persson Löfgren, Russia correspondents, Torbjörn Beckerexpert on Russian economics at the Stockholm School of Economics

Host: Jesper Lindau

Producer: Katja Magnusson

Sound engineer: Andreas Ericsson

Source: ICELAND NEWS