London announced that it will seek to facilitate the procedures for imposing sanctions on the wealthy close to the Kremlin, in line with the sanctions of the European Union, while the Italian government reported that the value of the assets of the Russian wealthy in Italy, which were frozen, amounted to 140 million euros.
The British government announced today, Saturday, that it will seek to facilitate the procedures for imposing sanctions on the wealthy close to the Kremlin, in line with those imposed by the European Union and the United States over the Russian operation in Ukraine.
The UK is under fire for not doing enough to clamp down on the illicit earnings of Ross' oligarchs, who are investing them in luxury properties in London, one of their favorite destinations.
The government said in a statement that amendments would be made to the economic crimes bill, which the government seeks to pass the House of Commons on Monday, "to put an end to corrupt elites and intensify pressure on the regime of (President Vladimir) Putin."
Treasury Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs John Glenn said Saturday that the amendments "will allow us to move faster and stronger" to impose sanctions.
"We are trying to make it easier to have a legal basis on which we can take action against these individuals, and we believe these amendments will make that difference," Glenn told BBC Radio.
"In this case, we need to know how to speed up these decisions," he added.
The government, after being criticized for not imposing firm sanctions, said the amendments "will allow the UK to align more quickly with the individual ratings imposed by our allies such as the US, Canada and the European Union, through urgent rating actions".
The amendments will reduce the deadline for foreign companies to register beneficial owners, from 18 months to six months, in order to "help eliminate money laundering using UK property".
The government added that the bill would be accelerated during Monday's House of Commons session, with the aim of becoming law "as soon as possible".
The United Kingdom issued a series of sanctions against Russian oligarchs, banks and companies, and banned Russian aircraft and ships following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Retaliatory measures
In response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters Saturday that British sanctions "leave us no choice but to take harsh and proportionate retaliatory measures."
She continued: "London has made the final decision to open confrontation with Russia. Such a development convinces us once again that fear of Russia and the undermining of the Russian state are essential components of Britain's foreign policy."
Italian Penalties
In this context, the Italian government announced, on Saturday, that the value of the assets of the wealthy Russians in Italy, which were frozen, amounted to 140 million euros, including the yachts that were placed in receivership on Friday.
The most important yacht is the "Lady M" yacht, worth 65 million euros, owned by Alexei Mordashov, a wealthy Russian who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been targeted by European Union sanctions after Moscow's attack on Ukraine.
A second yacht, the 50-million-euro "Lina" yacht owned by the billionaire founder of the raw materials trading company "Ganvor" Gennady Timchenko, was placed in receivership Friday.
A property in Sardinia, worth about 17 million euros, owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, was also placed in receivership.
The Italian government indicated that other properties owned by two people considered close to the Russian authorities were seized, with a total value of about 11 million euros.
European sanctions target more than 500 Russian individuals or entities whose assets and economic resources will be gradually frozen as European countries locate them and link them to their owners.
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