Amid Russia’s war on Ukraine, some of Moscow’s most powerful oligarchs have borne the brunt of economic sanctions imposed by the US and its allies. Among their most recent targets was Russia’s richest man, Alexei Mordashov, who was blacklisted by the European Union on Monday. Earlier this week, the EU announced sanctions against dozens of Russian politicians, businessmen, and journalists who were close to President Vladimir Putin. Mordashov, who is the largest shareholder of Russia’s biggest steelmaker Severstal, said he didn’t know how the recent sanctions would help to settle the conflict in Ukraine, Russian news agency TASS reported. 🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis 🗞️ Who is Alexei Mordashov? With an estimated net worth of about $29.1 billion, Mordashov, 56, is the richest man in Russia and 51st richest in the world, according to Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires. The son of a mill worker from the city of Cherepovetsm, he rose to become CEO of Russia’s biggest steel manufacturer, Severstal, where he served for 19 years before resigning in 2015. He is now a majority shareholder in the company. He also owns about 30 per cent of one of the world’s biggest travel companies, the TUI group. In fact, when international tourism came to a grinding halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mordashov helped bail the company out by taking part in its capital raises. But after the EU sanctions, the Russian billionaire resigned from TUI’s supervisory board, the company announced this week. This is not the first time Mordashov has had to deal with sanctions. While he was not personally sanctioned, in 2018, one of his assets, Russian power equipment producer Power Machines, was blacklisted by Washington. “The reason for sanctions was the supply of gas turbines manufactured by this joint venture to Russian state-owned company Rostec who redirected them to Crimea,” Mordashov told Reuters. Why has the EU blacklisted Mordashov? Mordashov was among the top Kremlin-linked oligarchs who were added to the EU’s sanctions blacklist in response to Russia’s violent invasion of Ukraine. The EU has been targeting businessmen and politicians who are believed to have backed Putin’s regime over the years. Citing its reasons for blacklisting Mordashov, the EU said that Rossiya Bank, in which he has a financial interest, has been serving as the “personal bank” of top Russian officials who benefited from the annexation of Crimea, The Guardian reported. The alliance also cited his investment in several pro-Russia media houses that contributed to destabilising Ukraine. How did Mordashov respond to the EU’s decision? In a statement, Mordashov said that he had never been close to politics and had nothing to do with the current crisis, Reuters reported. “I fail to understand how these sanctions against me will contribute to the settlement of the dreadful conflict in Ukraine,” he said. “It is terrible that Ukrainians and Russians are dying, people are suffering hardships and the economy is collapsing. I sincerely hope a way can be found in the very near future to resolve this conflict and stop the bloodshed,” his statement further read. Newsletter | Click to get the day's best explainers in your inbox
