Opinion: No more money from Putin’s accomplices!

When it comes to the money of Russian oligarchs, people in Germany have not been choosy. After Putin’s attack on Ukraine, these people must be ostracized as accomplices of the Kremlin boss, says Eugen Theise.

They have jacuzzi pools, an onboard cinema, posh dining rooms, big dance floors and of course the obligatory helipad – the luxury yacht is the ultimate status symbol for every oligarch. With the Russian billionaires’ penchant for decadent luxury, the manufacturers of these floating palaces are making good money.

The purchase price of the two most expensive pleasure ships owned by Russian oligarchs – Roman Abramovich’s “Eclipse” and Alisher Usmanov’s “Dilbar” – is estimated at around 1.5 billion US dollars. Luxury “Made in Germany” – built at traditional shipyards in Hamburg and Bremen. As early as 2014, after the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the German and European press raised the question of whether democratic Europe was not too carelessly accepting these questionable billions from Russia. There were similar voices after the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. But nothing happened.

Slow down nouveau riche Russians with Kremlin references

For two decades now, nouveau riche Russians have been investing on a large scale in luxury real estate in Western Europe, shopping in the most expensive boutiques in Paris, Milan or Rome. They especially like to enjoy their wealth here in the West. Not in Norilsk or in the autonomous district of the Chukchi in the far north-east of Russia, where precious metals, oil and gas are extracted under the most adverse conditions by ordinary Russians on their behalf.

The nouveau riche Russians send their children to outrageously expensive elite schools in the West, including Germany. And yet you despise the European ideal of a free, democratic society. Instead, they support the kleptocratic regime of a dictator who is becoming increasingly aggressive in his revisionist greed.

Since the imprisonment and expropriation of the former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky almost 20 years ago, it should be clear to everyone that Russia without loyalty to the Kremlin has no access to the country’s raw materials. Absolute loyalty is rewarded with production licenses, large government contracts and subsidies. During the privatization of the large industrial companies and the distribution of the most important posts in the – sometimes only formally – state-owned raw materials companies, no one from Putin’s most devoted oligarch guard was left unconsidered.

Sanctions alone are not enough

They rake in billions and are decorated with medals for it. And they support every annexation of the Kremlin ruler, they accept every state-commissioned murder by the regime, every insidious poisoning of critics. And now the bloody war of aggression against the Ukraine – the first in Europe of this magnitude since Adolf Hitler. The blood of the Ukrainians is now on their hands too. Your money is bloody money. But only very few of them are on the sanctions list of the European Union.

But even if they get on the sanctions list, the corresponding measures will be difficult to enforce. Also against Vladimir Putin, who has since been personally sanctioned. The Russian kleptocrats, the regime’s cynical profiteers and probably the dictator himself have perfected the art of concealment over the decades in power.

Imperial claim like Louis XIV.

The “Palace of Putin” in Gelendzhik in southern Russia, unveiled by the now imprisoned regime critic Alexej Navalny, shows an absolutist claim like the Sun King Louis XIV once did. But on paper it belongs neither to the monarch himself nor to the state, but to inconspicuous companies whose accounts contain billions in the magnificent building flow. And in a roundabout way: from accounts from a corporate network of people who owe their wealth solely to the ruler in the Kremlin.

The billion-dollar company holdings of an inconspicuous cellist and childhood friend of Putin, Sergej Roldugin, which were revealed in the course of the Panama Papers, are another prime example of the Russian art of concealment. Whether it’s the dictator himself, his childhood friends or the oligarchs – they’re all used to remaining absolutely anonymous with the help of shell companies and straw men. And, if necessary, avoid sanctions.

No more oligarch luxury in Western Europe

In response to Putin’s war against Ukraine, but also to protect democracy in Germany and on the continent, Europe must finally do without the sweet poison of big money from billionaires loyal to the Kremlin. Without exception, they all belong on the EU sanctions list. Even more: In order to identify questionable Russian funds from all henchmen of the Kremlin ruler, the previously neglected Financial Intelligence Unit in Germany must be massively strengthened.

Apart from all political measures, it is crucial that not only Putin but also his oligarchs are ostracized in the West without exception. Decency alone dictates doing without deals that enable the accomplices of a bloody dictator to have a good life. A start would be to no longer maintain or repair the luxury yachts built by the Russians in Germany. Similar to what happened in civil aviation with the latest sanctions. If we are punishing ordinary Russian air travelers like this, why are we sparing Putin’s henchmen?