UK authorities allowed sanctioned Russian billionaires to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars - NYT

British authorities have allowed Russian billionaires who are on the sanctions list to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars from frozen accounts for personal needs. This is reported by The New York Times.

According to the publication, the UK authorities issue special licenses to Russian billionaires. These papers allow them to use part of the funds from the frozen accounts. “In some cases, the oligarchs were allowed to spend more than a million dollars a year on living,” writes the NYT.

In total, according to the NYT, in 2022 the UK authorities received about a thousand applications for the issuance of licenses, and by the end of last year approved 82 of them.

The journalists of the publication studied the documents and found out that one of the founders of Alfa-Bank, Mikhail Fridman, used such a license in 2022 to pay for the services of 19 employees - drivers, personal chefs and other household staff. For ten months, it took about 400 thousand dollars. Now this license is no longer valid, but Friedman can apply for another one.

In addition, according to the NYT, Friedman received permission each month to use nearly $9,000 to "cover the basic needs of his family."

Another Russian billionaire, Pyotr Aven, was allowed by the British authorities to receive a monthly allowance of $77,000. True, Aven transferred most of this money, namely 45 thousand dollars, to a security company. The NYT notes that it belongs to Aven's financial manager, who is suspected of helping the businessman evade sanctions.

Fridman and Aven were included in the EU sanctions list in February 2022, and in March the UK also imposed restrictions. Both businessmen are trying to challenge this in courts.

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