As part of new UK government sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich was slammed with an asset freeze and travel ban on Thursday.
Leading industrialist Oleg Deripaska, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller are among those sanctioned, according to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
For weeks, there has been speculation about whether Abramovich might be included in the targeted move against Russian oligarchs seen as close to the Kremlin.
After buying Chelsea in 2003 and bankrolling its domestic and European success, Abramovich revealed last week that he was selling the English Premier League club.
The UK government estimated his net worth at £9.4 billion (11.1 billion euros, $12.2 billion), but said it was mitigating the effect of the sanctions on Chelsea by allowing the club to continue to operate.
A special licence “authorises a number of football-related activities”, the government said in a statement.
“This includes permissions for the club to continue playing matches and other football-related activity which will, in turn, protect the Premier League, the wider football pyramid, loyal fans and other clubs,” it added.
Deripaska is Abramovich’s one-time business partner, while officials described Sechin as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “right-hand man”.
The four others — Miller, VTB bank chairman Andrey Kostin, Transneft president Nikolai Tokarev and Bank Rossiya chairman Dmitri Lebedev — are part of his inner circle,
Collectively, the seven have a net worth of about £15 billion, the statement read.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the sanctions “the latest step in the UK’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people”.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss added: “Today’s sanctions show once again that oligarchs and kleptocrats have no place in our economy or society.
“With their close links to Putin, they are complicit in his aggression. The blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands. They should hang their heads in shame.”