Russia seizes Ukrainian oligarch's assets for allegedly financing Ukraine's Armed Forces

Russia has confiscated assets of Rinat Akhmetov, the richest man in Ukraine, for allegedly financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Source: This was reported by Russian Kommersant.

The Investigative Committee appealed to the Basmanny District Court of Moscow with a request to seize the assets of the Russian subsidiary of Metinvest [an international group of steel and mining companies owned by Akhmetov – ed.].

Metinvest Eurasia owns the Gornyak recreational facility in Krasnodar and Belgorodmetallosnab [Belgorod Metal Supplies] in Belgorod; after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the company's financial performance fell sharply. At the end of 2022, its profit decreased by 74%, the loss amounted to RUB 1.9 billion [about US$30 million – ed.].

It turns out that the "case" has been investigated by the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation since September 2020.

"According to investigators, since April 2022, unidentified persons from among the leaders and beneficiaries of the company Holdings Limited (it includes, in particular, the mining and metallurgical group Metinvest), registered in the British Virgin Islands, have financed the Ukrainian army, as well as the Azov battalion, including at the expense of funds coming from Russia," the report reads.

Background: In June 2022, Rinat Akhmetov, owner of a multi-billion dollar business in Ukraine, filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the Russian Federation. This was reported by the System Capital Management group, owned by Akhmetov. The businessman declared that his rights were violated by Russia destroying his business and stealing his property.

However, there is also a considerable obstacle for the development of this case. The State Duma of the Russian Federation approved the bill on non-enforcement of decisions of the ECHR adopted after 16 March 2022.

In August 2022, it was revealed that Ukrtelecom, Ukraine’s main telecommunication provider owned by Rinat Akhmetov, would file lawsuits against Russia demanding compensation for damage and the cost of destroyed, damaged and lost property due to Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.

According to Ukrtelecom, they received a decent income in 2022. But the income could have been even greater if not for the invasion of Russia. Even discounts that were provided to customers due to the war were counted as financial losses.

In April 2023, it became known that Rinat Akhmetov was ready to file a lawsuit against Russia over assets that he had lost in 2014-2017. The lawsuit includes dozens of companies, including the Yenakiyevo Metallurgical Plant, Rovenkiantratsyt, Sverdlovantratsyt, the Kirsha training base and the Donbas Arena, in the construction of which Renatov invested over US$400 million.

Militants in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine have repeatedly declared their readiness to "nationalise" Rinat Akhmetov's businesses. However, DTEK [the largest commercial energy operator in Ukraine, owned by Akhmetov – ed.] did not want to comment on these statements and insisted that their assets under occupation work exclusively within the jurisdiction of Ukrainian law.

It is also known that in 2018, Akhmetov's lawyers filed a lawsuit with the arbitration court in The Hague regarding DTEK's energy assets in annexed Crimea.

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