Italy seizes $116 million building from Russia's richest man

 

by Ryan King, Breaking News Reporter

 

 | March 19, 2022 10:22 AM

Italy seized a large building complex from the richest man in Russia on Friday as the West continues to penalize oligarchs for their reported ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the invasion of Ukraine.

The $116.2 million complex, owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov, was located in Portisco on Sardinia's Emerald Coast, per the Wall Street Journal. Mordashov, who is considered the richest man in Russia by some estimates, had his $72 million yacht Lady M snatched by Italian officials earlier this month.

"I have absolutely nothing to do with the emergence of the current geopolitical tension, and I do not understand why the EU has imposed sanctions on me," Mordashov told TASS, a Russian state-run news agency, on March 1. "For a very long time, I have been engaged in the development of economic, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation with many European countries, and I fail to understand how these sanctions against me will contribute to the settlement of the dreadful conflict in Ukraine."

US AND ALLIES CREATE TASK FORCE TO ENFORCE SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS

Russian oligarchs with close ties to Putin have been a key target for the West's sanctions over the country's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this week, Western countries convened the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs task force as a multilateral means of enforcing punitive measures against the oligarchs.

In this photo taken on Jan. 19, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Severstal's Chief Executive Alexei Mordashov during their meeting in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow. Severstal is a Russian steel producer based in northwest Russia.

(AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service)

Mordashov, 56, is the chairman and largest shareholder of Severstal, one of the biggest steel and mining companies in Russia. In 2021, he had a $29.1 billion net worth, according to a Forbes estimate that labeled him the richest man in Russia. Bloomberg had a similar estimate of his net worth at the time, but it now pegs his wealth at $21.7 billion following the sanctions, a figure that falls below the estimated net worth of Vladimir Potanin, the president of Norilsk Nickel, who is thought to be worth $24.8 billion.

Notably, some analysts believe that high-profile Russians such as Putin have far more wealth than what the financial documents show due to a variety of slick financial maneuverings.

Yachts, villas, financial assets, and other holdings of Russia's billionaire elite have become signature targets for the West. So far, one of the most valuable yachts to be seized was Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko's $578 million superyacht, which was sequestered by Italian officials last week.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/italy-seizes-116-million-building-from-russias-richest-man