The UK government has sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, freezing his assets, including English Premier League soccer club Chelsea.
In a statement Thursday, the UK government said Abramovich has had “his assets frozen, a prohibition on transactions with UK individuals and businesses, a travel ban and transport sanctions imposed.”
Abramovich and Putin ally Igor Sechin are among seven oligarchs and politicians to be added to the UK’s sanctions list.
The sanctions are estimated to be worth close to $20 billion (£15 billion), the UK government said.
Seven further oligarchs and politicians are being added to its sanctions list, including:
- Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea FC and has stakes in steel giant Evraz and Norilsk Nickel
- Oleg Deripaska, who has stakes in En+ Group
- Igor Sechin, the chief executive of Rosneft
- Andrey Kostin, chairman of VTB bank
- Alexei Miller, CEO of energy company Gazprom
- Nikolai Tokarev, president of the Russia state-owned pipeline company Transneft
- Dmitri Lebedev, chairman of the board of directors of Bank Rossiya
