The Australian Government has issued new sanctions on 11 additional Russian banks, government entities and two of its oligarchs due to its continuous invasion of Ukraine.
The two oligarchs which include Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg who own assets in Australia were added to the list of individuals that were earlier sanctioned by the government.
Since the invasion, several governments which include; Canada, New Zealand, the US, the UK and EU have imposed sanctions targeting those close to President Vladimir Putin.
What you should know
- Mr Deripaska and Mr Vekselberg are banned from travelling to Australia. They will also face “targeted financial sanctions”.
- According to Australia’s explanatory statement, the two oligarchs play key roles in Russian entities with interests in the energy sector and they support the Russian Government in furtherance of its economic and strategic priorities.
- The government say the sanction include a ban on “directly or indirectly making an asset available to, or for the benefit of, a designated person or entity, other than as authorised by a permit”,
- They noted that by virtue of their positions and actions, the two persons are, or have been, engaging in an activity or performing a function that is of economic or strategic significance to Russia.
- The government had earlier named other individuals which include: the chair of Rostec and member of the Supreme Council of United Russia, Sergey Chemezov; the founder and largest shareholder of Alfa Group, Mikhail Fridman; the president of Transneft, Nikolai Tokarev; the chair of Sheremetyevo international airport, Alexander Ponomarenko; the chair of VEB, Igor Shuvalov; and the chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev.
- The two oligarchs just sanctioned, were among the individuals sanctioned by the United States in 2018.
- The UK government last week included Mr Deripaska among seven influential business figures sanctioned due to Russia’s invasion on Ukraine.
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