Economy

Occupy oligarch street: the liberation of Russian mansions and villas

Planet Business: Wartime fallout from caviar sanctions to a Kyiv app’s grim new uses

Protesters in London occupy 5 Belgrave Square, said to belong to the family of oligarch Oleg Deripaska, on Monday. Four were later arrested. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Getty Images

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Laura Slattery
Sat Mar 19 2022 - 05:20

Image of the week: ‘Putin go f*** yourself’

It was a lively Monday afternoon at 5 Belgrave Square, deep in London's "oligarch quarter" after squatters occupied a mansion belonging to the family of Russian aluminium magnate Oleg Deripaska and staged a seven-hour balcony protest with the aid of signs reading "this property has been liberated" and "Putin go f*** yourself" (the latter helpfully translated into Russian). The group, calling themselves the London Mahknovists after early 20th-century Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary Nestor Makhno, danced, played music, called for the empty property to be opened up to Ukrainian refugees and attracted a phalanx of Metropolitan Police officers in riot gear. As negotiators attempted to persuade them to come down from the balcony – first via a ladder, then a JCB and crane – the group asked to be sent a questionnaire instead, Partygate-style. Police eventually broke through the front door with the help of a drill and arrested four people.

In numbers: Wartime fallout

Kirill Shamalov’s French property, the Alta Mira, should be renamed Villa Ukraine said the Russian activists who briefly occupied it earlier this week. Photograph: Gaizka Iroz/AFP

1.5 million

Downloads for the Kyiv Digital app, according to authorities. Before the war, the app was used to buy transport tickets or pay utility bills. Now, for those remaining in the city, it issues alerts for air raids and shares maps of bomb shelters.

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Years since Russia last defaulted on its sovereign debt. Rising oil prices helped it recover from that crisis to become one of the most creditworthy countries in the world – or at least it was before it invaded Ukraine.

€4.5 billion

The value of Irish-owned aircraft leased to Russian airlines and now stuck in Russia is estimated to be between €3.5 billion and €4.5 billion, which will be one hefty write-off if it happens.

Getting to know: Kirill Shamalov

Much-sanctioned Kirill Shamalov (39) is the ex-husband of Vladimir Putin's daughter Katerina Tikhonova and a petrochemical billionaire. He's in the news because his Alta Mira villa in Biarritz in southwest France had some squatters in. Two Russian activists broke in, changed the locks and said they would rename it Villa Ukraine, making it available to refugees – like the Belgrave Square protesters, they were subsequently arrested. So how did Shamalov and Tikhonova meet? Well, he's the son of an old friend of Putin, Nikolai Shamalov, a shareholder in Kremlin-linked Bank Rossiya, which must have helped with the intros. They got married in 2013 at Igora, a secluded ski resort near St Petersburg part-owned by another Putin mate, with the couple riding a traditional Russian sleigh drawn by three white horses. Post-divorce Shamalov got remarried to London-based socialite Zhanna Volkova. When they, too, split, Volkova spilled the tea to Tatler magazine, saying Shamalov did "not know how to end a relationship with dignity" and that "in Russia, the feeling of impunity greatly corrupts men who boast of influential patrons".

The list: Luxury goods ban

In awkward news for Russian social media influencers, the European Union is banning the sale of luxury goods worth more than €300. So what's on the no-sale list?

1. Caviar: Russia is the top importer worldwide of caviar. Luckily for its many fans of cured fish eggs, it should still be able to procure a sufficient supply from top exporters/allies China and Belarus.

2. Handbags: Many people would say it is possible to live a happy life with a handbag that costs less than €300. Then again, the Russian elite and its hangers-on are not “many people”.

3. Furs: You know what would be even better, EU countries? Not having any fur clothing to export in the first place.

4. Diamonds: Contrary to Shirley Bassey’s declaration, they’re not forever.

5. Perfumes: Soon the only smell in Moscow will be the stench of the blood on Putin’s hands.

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