London takes revenge on the oligarchs. Why did the British police take pocket money from Aven

Ivan Zubov

Events continue to develop around the Russian oligarchs in Britain. On May 24, news came that the Jersey authorities had opened an investigation against Abramovich for possible evasion of British sanctions. And then, on May 25, the media reported on a search in the British mansion of Pyotr Aven. The reason is the same - avoiding sanctions. A source familiar with the course of the investigation clarified that this was specifically about checking compliance with the sanctions restrictions, a criminal case against Aven had not yet been initiated.

During the search, 30 thousand pounds were confiscated - Aven was left without pocket money.

Now the British authorities are studying Aven's money transfers to the UK. In September, the businessman is scheduled to be interviewed about the origin of these transfers and what they were spent on.

Earlier, TASS, citing an unknown source, reported that the claims related to the amount of expenses - Aven was allowed to spend 2.5 thousand pounds a month, while he, of course, spent more. The amount was determined, most likely, by the average salary in the UK, it is about the same size. But Aven himself hardly remembers when he lived on an average, albeit British, salary, and therefore could not withstand such a serious test.

At the same time, it is curious that the British authorities abandoned their promise to lift sanctions from Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven for 150 million euros, which the billionaires donated to Ukraine. Their accounts have remained blocked.

Earlier, according to the online publication Mash, Aven and Friedman were hinted in British circles around the government: if you want to remove the arrest from assets, distance yourself from Russia and donate money where necessary. They did just that, and then the head of the association of Jewish organizations in Ukraine asked the EU authorities to stop persecuting philanthropists, but the British authorities did not stop doing this: yes, they unfrozen the funds for businessmen, but only for those same 150 million euros. In addition, informed sources reported that the assistance to Ukraine was allegedly a personal initiative of the bankers, no one pressed them.

It is also known that the British authorities arrested the famous collection of art objects collected by Aven, and in addition, they refused both bankers a one-time trip to the continent. Experts believe that they are seriously threatened and imprisonment.

Lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky, in his commentary on these events, said that it would not be possible to pay off Fridman and Aven, and added: “ I heard that there is even a company in London that buys the arrested property of oligarchs under sanctions. I won’t be surprised if it turns out that this entire sanctions campaign was aimed at obtaining the wealth of Russian billionaires .”

True, both Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven, in turn, also filed lawsuits with the European Court of General Jurisdiction, thus strengthening the image of businessmen fighting for the abolition of personal sanctions. Roman Abramovich, who actively sponsors international cultural events and is also trying to find a diplomatic way out of the situation in Ukraine, appears in this company along with them.

With all the persecution he is subjected to in Britain, Pyotr Aven, when asked by journalists why he did not leave for his homeland when it was possible, said: “ If I leave here, I won’t be able to return anymore! »

In the meantime, the satirical site "Panorama" reports that "stocks of black caviar in the mansion of Pyotr Aven will last only 2 weeks..."

Social psychologist Alexey Roshchin, commenting on these events, quite rightly concludes: “ And this is, as it were, a billionaire, albeit a former one. What in the Russian Federation is usually called "elite". The elite are literally the best people in the country, even the best of the best. Select copies! If we have such an "elite" in our country, living literally on the principle of "piss in the eyes - God's dew" - what is the rest of the country like?!»