The US punishes the wife and children of the richest man in Russia Timchenko

Last week, when the Biden administration announced sanctions against Gennady Timchenko, it was not unusual for Russia’s richest billionaire. Because he is one of the few Russian super-rich people who have been sanctioned by the European Union (EU), Britain and the United States.

But the fact that the US sanctioned both Timchenko’s wife and two daughters was a surprise.

The latest US move is part of a widening campaign of sanctions against Russian elites and family members who benefit from the wealth or help protect them.

Mr. Timchenko, 69, is the founder of Volga Group, an investment group with interests in sectors such as energy, transportation and construction. The corporation is also being punished. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he has a fortune of $12.9 billion.

Timchenko’s daughters all have ties to the West. Ms. Ksenia Frank was a member of the board of directors of the Timchenko family’s company, Transoil. She holds Finnish citizenship and heads the family fund supervisory board.

According to the foundation’s website, Ms. Frank studied French and philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. She also holds a master’s degree from the school business Insead. Her husband, Gleb Frank, is the son of a former transport minister under Putin and is also under sanctions.

The sanctions also target Timchenko’s wife, Elena, the founder of the Timchenko family foundation and also of Finnish nationality. The second daughter, Natalya Browning, a British citizen, is also on the sanctions list. Mr. Timchenko’s 40-meter-long yacht, Lena, was also blocked by Italian authorities.

However, Timchenko’s son Ivan Timchenko is not on the list of sanctions this time.

Rachel Alpert – Jenner & Block co-chair in charge of national security, sanctions and export controls – said that these latest measures show that the US is more aggressive in imposing sanctions. punish.

In the first rounds, family members were targeted for having some sort of relationship with the Russian state or military, but now “just being an adult child of the person being punished is enough.” , she said.

In addition to Mr. Timchenko’s wife and daughters, the US also targeted his wife and daughter Nikolay Tokarev, the president of Transneft. According to the Ministry Finance US, Tokarev’s daughter owns a real estate empire worth $ 50 million including an island villa in Croatia.

This week, Britain also sanctioned Polina Kovaleva, daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Ms. Kovaleva owns a property worth £4 million ($5.3 million) in London.

Sanctions on Russian family members are also selective. Suleiman Kerimov transferred his main asset, a stake in Russia’s largest gold mining company Polyus, to his son in 2015.

Mr. Suleiman, whose fortune is worth $12.4 billion, was sanctioned by the US in 2018 and was also on UK and EU sanctions lists this week. However, his son has yet to be punished.

According to a listing filing, the Kerimov family has moved the headquarters of the parent company controlling shares in Polyus from Jersey (USA) to Cyprus.

A 2020 US Senate report also found that with the transfer of assets, Igor Rotenberg helped his father, billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, the head of SMP bank, avoid sanctions in 2014 by using sanctions. shell company.