Alisher Usmanov: ex-fencer who ‘solves Putin’s business problems’
From a first fortune made from manufacturing plastic bags, which were in short supply in the Soviet Union, Alisher Usmanov’s business dealings saw him rise to become one of the 100 richest people in the world, buying multimillion pound mansions and stakes in English premier league football clubs along the way.
Now the Uzbek-born billionaire risks losing some of the trappings of his extreme wealth after he was placed on the EU sanctions list, which named him as “one of Vladmir Putin’s favourite oligarchs”.
The 68-year-old metals magnate was ranked 99 on Forbes magazine’s 2021 billionaires list with an estimated fortune of $14.1bn (£11bn). He is now facing asset freezes on anything he owns in Europe.
Usmanov’s $600m superyacht Dilbar, which is named after his mother and thought to be the largest in the world by gross tonnage, was reported on Wednesday night as having been seized by German authorities from a Hamburg shipyard, according to Forbes magazine, citing three sources.
Officials in the port city later denied the vessel had been confiscated. However, a spokesperson for Hamburg’s economic authority said there were no plans to return the boat to its owner. “No yacht is going to leave the port that is not allowed to do so,” they added.
The EU has published an eye-catching list of reasons for blacklisting Usmanov. It claims he paid millions to an influential Putin adviser, “fronted for President Putin and solved his business problems”, and offered the use of his personal residences to one of the president’s most senior political allies. In a country where key business positions depend on the will of Putin, Usmanov is “entrusted with servicing financial flows”, the EU alleges.
The EU also said Usmanov’s interests in media and
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