He: leads Russia’s bloody war. She: She lives a life of luxury in Paris.

This is how wealthy Russians in Europe get around sanctions, according to Navalny’s anti-corruption organisation.

Svetlana Manyovich appears as the very definition of Russian glamor and wealth. Whether it’s on a yacht in St. Tropez or a nightclub in Paris, she wears clothes and jewelry worth millions of crowns.

It is said that she needs more than half a million kroner a month to maintain her lifestyle. She must not have any recorded income of her own.

This information comes from Maria Pevshek on Twitter. She is the head of Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Fund. Referred to as Putin’s archenemy, Navalny has, over several years, exposed deep corruption in the Russian elite. The organization has made many powerful enemies, but the fund continues its work.

Now Svetlana Manyovich is in the spotlight.

The existence of rich Russians is nothing new. But the fact that Svetlana travels freely around Europe is a fact.

She is married to the deputy head of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Timur Ivanov lived a life of luxury with his wife in the Russian elite. Now he leads the construction of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol. A city torn apart by Putin’s forces in the year 2022.

The corruption hunter Pevchikh reacts aggressively to the fact that someone at a high level in the Russian power apparatus is allowed to travel freely around Europe. The organization is particularly critical of the fact that it uses money the man might have earned from the war in Ukraine.

Bypass penalties

As for Manovich, he is allowed to shop in France despite the fact that a number of anti-Russian sanctions were adopted in the wake of last year’s massive invasion. EU and US sanctions have hit both sectors and companies. However, there are a number that are aimed squarely at the powerful politicians and businessmen of Putin’s regime. Like Ivanov.

But the couple took two simple steps that allow the wife to live the life of luxury in Europe while the husband leads the war in Ukraine:

• Five months after the war, they separated
• I got an Israeli passport

“Sanctions don’t affect it,” writes the corruption hunter.

The former spouses are not alone. Since February last year, there have been a few Russians living the luxury life while Russian soldiers die in Ukraine.

Your father is a murderer

In April last year, another rich wife was seen in Paris. At the time, it was Sergei Naryshkin’s wife who was shopping, according to the report NEXTA News Service.

Naryshkin is the head of the KGB and is part of Putin’s inner circle.

Last year, for example, an angry mob gathered in front of a luxury apartment in London. They carried signs reading “Your father is a murderer” and “You are the daughter of a war criminal”. Polina Kovaleva, daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, lived in the apartment. I stayed for a while after disclosure Luxury is on the penalty list.

But how are things really going with the ultra-rich Russians?

enormous wealth

Under the Soviet Union, all Soviet citizens were supposed to be equal. But some were more popular than others, and an upper class was formed that had more money and access than the rest of the population. In the 1990s, a small group of businessmen bought Russia’s vast resources on the cheap.

Since then, the so-called wealthy oligarchs have become a very powerful group in Putin’s Russia. Assuming they didn’t come into direct conflict with the boss.

Admittedly, many have been lifted out of poverty. But the rich own Russia.

In 2019, the richest 10 percent of Russians owned 89 percent of the country’s wealth.. Fewer than 100 billionaires together have more money in savings than the rest of the population combined. This is shown by numbers from Forbes, reproduced in Moscow Times.

Afraid of cheating

But the war is felt between the great power of Russia. Bloomberg Financial Agency Take a census in February, one year after the mass invasion:

• The 23 Russian oligarchs on Bloomberg’s list lost more than $67 billion in one year
• Together, they lost 20 percent of their assets

The losses were even greater at the beginning of the war. This means that Bloomberg analysts believe the sanctions will have a “limited long-term impact” on this group.

In January, US authorities also issued a warning about loopholes in the sanctions. They fear that rich Russians could circumvent sanctions by, for example, investing in commercial real estate and creating complex ownership structures. The Wall Street Journal.