Not since the dying days of the Roman Republic has so much property been seized by the state from undeserving oligarchs. In 83BC Lucius Sulla, known as the ‘lucky’, enacted proscriptions of his enemies’ assets to fill the coffers of Rome after a prolonged civil war. Not a man to be crossed this Dictator, who once famously said:-

“No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full.”

Two thousand odd years later the Italian government is moving fast to seize the assets of the immoral Russian oligarchs who sully the good name of business people everywhere. 

Prime Minister Mario Draghi's office announced that on Friday that Italian authorities seized a building complex owned by Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov. The building complex is worth around US$116 million and is located in Portisco, on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia.

This is the second time Italian officials seized assets belonging to Mordashov as the Italian authorities seized his US$71 million, 215-foot yacht in early March.

Should we cry our eyes out?

NO! NO! NO!

Why Not?

i.                    He acquired the foundation of his fortune in the early 1990s at the Cherepovetskiy Metallurgical Plant, where he was Finance Director and thus could see the true value of the company. He bought up shares from its workers at a cheap price before and after it was privatised.

ii.                  Mordashov, according to Forbes' data, is Russia's wealthiest man. He has an estimated net worth of US$29.1 billion. Assuming he earns a modest 5% return on his assets he would be earning US$120,833,333 PER MONTH!

This is obscene - to give you a comparison the average worker in Russia earns US$966 per month. That is 104,000 rubbles in Russian currency which is already in freefall due to the Western sanctions.

iii.                Mordashov was mentioned in the Panama Papers and Fin-CEN files leaks – a company associated with Mordashov paid for a number of Vladimir Putin's pet projects and gave generously to Putin’s closest associates.     

iv.                Earlier this month, as per Companies House filings, Mordashov transferred his US$1.1 billion stake in a mining company to his wife to avoid Western sanctions.

v.                  On 28 February – the day Mordashov was named on the EU sanctions list – it was announced that Mordashov had sold 29.9% of Tui, the world’s largest travel company. The shares were sold to Ondero Ltd, based in the British Virgin Islands. The shares are worth £1.1bn at today’s prices. He held a total stake of 34% in Tui so at the same time he transferred the remaining 4.1% stake to his Russian investment vehicle, Severgroup.

We must push the UK government to move faster on seizures, and quickly close these loopholes. If my petition is successful it will enable the government to sell these assets and send the money to the Ukrainian people as aid in their time of need. By selling we also stop these repulsive oligarchs from ever getting them back due to political compromise. Please push for more signatures to our petition.

As always, thank you for what you are doing to assist.

Love

Neil

PS

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix was appointed a Dictator for life by the Roman Republic but after his aims had been achieved, both military and politically, he turned over the reins of power to the Senate. He then retired to the countryside to live out the rest of his life. This is almost unprecedented when you read about any of the famous dictators – think Hitler, Starlin, Benito Mussolini, Pinochet, Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, Hussain, Gadhafi……and even the most famous Roman of them all, Julius Caesar.

Putin should take note of their fates and resign…….NOW