Europe adds Putin cronies, aide and bank to sanctions blacklist

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/31/europe-adds-putin-cronies-sanctions-blacklist

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The EU has added three longstanding "cronies" of Vladimir Putin, an important presidential aide and a Russian bank to its sanctions blacklist in the latest punitive measure aimed at Moscow for its involvement in fuelling the conflict in Ukraine.

The expanded list of people and entities subject to asset freezes and travel bans, agreed earlier this week by ambassadors from the 28 EU member states, marks the furthest EU sanctions have reached into Putin's inner circle. Leading members of rebel groups in eastern Ukraine and Crimea are also on the list. The addition of new targets follows the announcement on Tuesday of sweeping financial sanctions, an arms embargo and a freeze on exports of equipment to the Russian oil industry.

The key figures named in the European blacklist are:

Arkady Rotenberg An old friend of Putin's from St Petersburg, who was his judo sparring partner. He has grown rich from being granted lucrative government contracts, particularly for the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Giprotransmost, a firm in which he is majority shareholder, has been given a contract to do a feasibility study on a bridge from Russia to Crimea, aimed at further integrating the annexed territory into Russia.

Yuri Kovalchuk Another member of the St Petersburg network, who is part of an even more exclusive circle around Putin which goes by the modest title of the Ozero Dacha co-operative society, but which is in fact a group of billionaires closely bound to the Russian leader. Kovalchuk is known as the personal banker for the Kremlin leadership, because of his role as chairman and largest shareholder of Bank Rossiya. He is being blacklisted in particular because the bank has opened branches across Crimea. It also owns a large part of the National Media Group, a propaganda outlet supporting Moscow's expansionist policies.

Nikolay Shamalov Another member of the Ozero Dacha society and the second largest shareholder in Bank Rossiya.

Alexey Gromov Putin's first deputy chief of staff and a former Russian diplomat. He is deemed responsible for instructing Russian media to back the Crimea annexation and the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine.