In London, Chelsea football club is for sale. Its owner, the Russian Roman Abramovich, is however not targeted by the sanctions that fall against the oligarchs around the world. Precisely, the slowness of the British government is criticized as well as the links of the Conservative Party with Russia.
With our correspondent in London, Emeline Wine
The British Conservative Party has been receiving Russian money for years. Just since the arrival of Boris Johnson at the head of the Tories in 2019, they have received nearly two million pounds (just over two million euros) from wealthy Russians. A sum that the Labor opposition is today calling for to donate to Ukrainian charities
► To read also: War in Ukraine: the Russians are beginning to feel the concrete effects of economic sanctions
Among the donors, six oligarchs or their wives, former Putin ministers or bank directors. Some appear in the “Pandora Papers”, a recent journalistic investigation into corruption, and derive their wealth from abuse of position or from their links with people close to Putin.
Slowness in sanctions
Donors arrived in the UK on ‘golden visas’ and have since been able to obtain British citizenship, which allows them to make large donations to parties or political figures, without the origin of the donation being known. money.
More broadly, the Labor Party denounces the slowness of the government to adopt sanctions against the Russian oligarchs owners of luxurious properties in London, companies and sports clubs. A slowness which, according to the opposition, allows them to transfer their wealth before being sanctioned.