An investigation by an international consortium of journalists reveals the actions of Vladimir Putin and Roman Abramovich to circumvent Western sanctions.
Roman Abramovich and Vladimir Putin, involved in a money laundering scandal in Cyprus? This is what a new survey by an international consortium of journalists reveals. The objective of the two Russians is to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Roman Abramovich, the former owner of the English football club Chelsea, is said to have given shares in a company worth $40 million to two trusted men of the President of Russia.
One of them, the cellist Sergei Roldugin, already mentioned in the “Panama Papers” and known as “Putin’s wallet”.
The Cypriot president assures him, the country will investigate:
“No one is above the reputation of Cyprus, said Nikos Chistodoulides. Many initiatives have been taken over the years. After the new government came to power and the sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Kingdom, we strengthened the legal framework. Every allegation revealed in the press will be investigated, and it cannot be long before it is done.”
The media investigation is based on a data leak of more than 3.5 million documents and concerns nearly a hundred Russian citizens who have been sanctioned since 2014, the year of the annexation of Crimea.
Cyprus, a member of the European Union, is regularly singled out as a refuge for Russian oligarchs to launder their money and circumvent sanctions.
Cyprus could thus have helped finance Putin’s war effort in Ukraine.
The island has been home to a large Russian community for years.
