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66 I Eastern Europe bne July 2022
and abusing state contracts for their own enrichment, the article claims that these individuals have tied their money up in a network of offshores and properties. Most strikingly, Miller is accused of owning a palace known as “Millerhoff” outside Moscow.
“Millerhoff” reportedly boasts almost three thousand square metres, with its own parks and fifteen hectares
of land.
INTERVIEW:
Another, even bigger palace outside Moscow is also linked to Miller by the report. It has an enormous glass dome, servants’ quarters, a guest house and a floor plan of over 8,500 square metres. Flight data from planes and helicopters linked to Miller are used to reinforce the allegations, as well as public ownership records.
The luxurious pictures of properties allegedly owned by Miller evoke
associations with FBK’s report into
a palace on the Black Sea allegedly owned by Vladimir Putin. The FBK’s video report into Putin’s palace went viral on YouTube, and has so far garnered over 124mn views.
Miller has not yet publicly responded to the allegations. He appeared at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 16, where he blamed rising gas prices on EU countries.
Oleksii Makeiev, Ukraine’s Ambassador and Special Envoy for Sanctions / wiki
Yevgeny Chichvarkin, and independent journalists have also been caught in the dragnet and have had their bank accounts frozen.
Russians living in the EU are already wary of taking foreign trips for fear of being stopped at customs as Western government cast a wide blanket of suspicion on all Russian passport holders.
Makeiev is clearly frustrated by how slow the EU operates in coming
to a decision on whether or not to ban imports of Russian energy and commodities.
EU leaders have agreed in principle
to cut 90% of Russian oil imports by
the end of 2022, resolving the weeks- long stalemate over the sixth sanction package for Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. The new package also includes cutting off Russia’s biggest lender state- controlled bank Sberbank from the SWIFT payment system.
Ukraine calls for a total ban on all Russians travelling overseas
Jason Corcoran in Dublin
Oleksii Makeiev, Ukraine’s Ambassador and Special Envoy for Sanctions, has called for a total ban on all Russian passport holders from travelling overseas in a potential major escalation of punitive measures imposed since the invasion three months ago.
In an interview with bne IntelliNews from Brussels, Makeiev said that his government in Kyiv has already discussed the possibility with western partner counties.
He said: “These large-scale decisions are difficult to negotiate and to push through, but this would hit the nerve of those who thought there might only be some minor inconveniences after sanctions, and they can travel to wherever – to the UK, Dublin, Nice or Paris via Turkey or Serbia.”
“It is important that real Russians feel it and not just oligarchs and the inner circle,” added Makeiev. “So those who want to drink coffee in Vienna or
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those who have their permits to work in Innsbruck are hit directly. They must speak up and influence their government because they must bear responsibility too.”
Makeiev’s role is to work closely with Ukraine’s Western democratic allies and the international community to develop punitive sanctions against the Russian government, individuals and entities. Reporting to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Makeiev has been a career diplomat for 26 years and was previously political director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Many Russians living in Europe are now facing additional scrutiny into their financial affairs since the invasion on February 24. European Union regulators have told some banks to scrutinise transactions by all Russian and Belarusian clients, including
EU residents. Prominent opposition figures, such as Russian entrepreneur