leading businessperson close to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin; one of the main shareholders of the Alfa Group
Official reason
Petr Aven is a Russian businessperson with close links to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, dating back to the early 1990s. He has a significant shareholding in ABH Holdings, which controlled a major Russian bank, Alfa Bank, and still controls other companies of the Alfa Group. The transfer of his shares in A1, which is part of the Alfa Group, is considered fictitious. He is also a shareholder of the LetterOne investment firm. He is one of approximately 50 wealthy Russian businesspersons who regularly meet with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, in the Kremlin. On 24 February 2022, in the aftermath of the initial stages of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Petr Aven, along with 36 other businesspersons, met with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and other members of the Russian government to discuss the impact of the course of action in the wake of Western sanctions. The fact that he was invited to attend this meeting shows that he is a member of the closest circle of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. The insurance company AlfaStrakhovanie, which is part of Alfa Group Consortium, provides insurance to the vehicles of the Federal Service of the National Guard of the Russian Federation (Rosgvardia), whose units operate in the occupied regions of Ukraine under Russian control, as well as the bodyguard vehicles of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. AlfaStrakhovanie has also provided insurance to companies such as the JSC Kalashnikov Concern and the Central Scientific-Research Institute for Precision Machine Engineering (TsNIITochMash), whose weapons are widely used by the Russian military in Ukraine, including during the atrocities in Bucha. Furthermore, X5 Retail Group, another company of Alfa Group Consortium, cooperates with JSC Voentorg, an entity subject to restrictive measures which provides catering and laundry services, as well as military uniforms, to the armed forces of the Russian Federation and whose subsidiary sells T-shirts bearing the “Z” military symbol used by Russian propagandists to promote Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Therefore, Petr Aven is a leading businessperson operating in Russia and a businessperson involved in an economic sector providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation, which is responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine. He actively supported materially or financially and benefitted from Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine. He also supported actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. In 2024, the Russian authorities expropriated the property rights of Union holding companies in the Russian holding company of Alfa Bank, JSC AB Holding, and provided that indirect shareholders, such as Aven, were to become direct shareholders of the Russian holding company. Aven subsequently sold his new direct property rights to a third party, obtaining a considerable payment in Russia. He is thus a person who has significantly frustrated the provisions of Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP. He has also benefitted from a compulsory transfer of ownership or control of an entity established in Russia, previously owned or controlled by entities established in the Union, by the Government of the Russian Federation through laws, regulations, other legislative instruments or other action of a Russian public authority.
Sender
CH
Additional info
Art. 15 para. 1 and 4 (Financial sanctions) and art. 29 para. 1 (Travel ban), annexe 8
Other Information
Function: leading businessperson close to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin; one of the main shareholders of the Alfa Group;
Associated individuals: the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin; Mikhail Fridman; German Borisovich Khan; Alexey Kuzmichev;
Associated entities: JSC Voentorg
Date of listing
2022-03-04
Program information
Authority
CH
Program
Ordinance of 4 March 2022 on measures related to the situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72)
Regime
Switzerland country specific
Target State
Russia
Measures
Asset freeze, Travel ban, Trade sanctions, Financial restrictions, Transport restrictions, Other restrictions
Official Information
Switzerland imposes these sanctions under the Ordinance of 4 March 2022 on measures related to the situation in Ukraine (SR 946.231.176.72). The measures follow the sanctions adopted by the European Union.
