One of the issues that remains to be decided in the European Union is the fate of the many billions of dollars, yachts and luxury properties belonging to Russian oligarchs who, since the invasion of Ukraine, have seen their assets frozen. And frozen is precisely the right term, since this money and assets were not confiscated, meaning their ownership remains intact. However, for the sake of decency, they should have long ago been handed over to the Ukrainians for the human and material costs that the Russian invasion has caused.
But, after all, who are these oligarchs and what is the true value of the frozen assets, for which the European Union cannot reach a consensus for a use that can serve Ukraine in its condition as an attacked and invaded country.
The frozen monetary value reaches around 300 billion dollars, equivalent to around 250 billion euros.
The owners of this enormous amount of money and assets are around 39 oligarchs, all in Putin’s good graces. They are political leaders, company managers, senior officials of the Russian Armed Forces and also commanders of the extinct Wagner group.
They constitute the backbone of Russian state capitalism and their money is almost all frozen in a Belgian institution, Euroclear, (part of which is in Luxembourg) which specializes in liquidating real estate securities and buying and selling bonds and shares on the stock exchange.
The central component of this enormous fortune of the Russian oligarchy is practically intact even though the Belgians have already charged 1.7 billion euros in taxes on the money deposited. In favor of the Ukrainian cause, only 1.5 billion euros were used in 2024, which were withdrawn from interest. It is expected that this year another two billion euros will be delivered to Kiev, always subtracting the interest generated.
Of the Russian oligarchs with frozen money, some are closer to Putin, others are just obedient servants of the Kremlin’s interests.
This is the case of the second richest man in Russia, Alexei Mordashov. Mordashov is the chairman of the Board of Directors and main shareholder of Severstal, Russia’s largest steel and mining company.
The owners of the largest Russian private bank, Alfa Bank, Mikail Fridman (with a 32.86% stake in the bank) and German Khan (with 20.9% of the bank’s shares) also have their respective fortunes frozen.
The Russian asset freeze also affected what is considered the richest man in Russia, Oleg Deripaska, a metal, aluminum and energy businessman whose fortune, in July 2025, was valued at 4.1 billion dollars.
Among the Russian oligarchy is also someone well known to the Portuguese and who obtained, who knows how, Portuguese citizenship. Abramovich, who in 2022 and 2023 owned the English football club Chelsea. His fortune was born from the oil and aluminum business in the 1980s, having formed the company Sibneft, a Russian oil company that was later sold by Abramovich to Gazprom for 13 billion dollars and where the basis of his enormous fortune emerged, which is currently estimated at 8.08 billion dollars.
In the universe of frozen fortunes there are also elements of Putin’s oldest political friendships, from the time of the KGB and the Saint Petersburg city council. The most important of all is undoubtedly Igor Sechin, who was Putin’s chief of staff when he served as vice-president of the Saint Petersburg City Council. Putin then controlled Tambov, the St. Petersburg mafia that operated in the seaport located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets rivers.
Later, with Putin as President, Igor Sechin was his chief of staff for the areas of security and energy. He was also deputy prime minister of Russia and has a fortune valued at 800 million dollars.
Still in the chapter of Putin’s oldest friendships is Gennady Timchenko, an ice hockey enthusiast that Putin loves so much. Timchenko was the founder of the company Volga Group which has interests in energy, gas, transport and logistics. Timchenko has a fortune that is currently estimated at 22 billion dollars.
Another friend of Putin’s and also linked to football issues is Alisher Usmanov, who was an important shareholder in the English football club, Arsenal.
His estimated fortune of 18 billion dollars, also frozen, arose mainly from mining, steel, gas and telecommunications.
Here, then, is this gigantic Russian matrioska worth many billions of dollars that constitutes the financial heart of the Russian economy that is beginning to show signs of wear and tear due to the prolonged war. Using all these billions of dollars of dirty money to compensate Ukraine for the losses suffered is an act of courage. We will see, then, if the European Union has the political strength to give the Russian monetary matrioska a sledgehammer!