London is not the place where Ukrainian oligarchs can hide - The Telegraph

Britain may not be a safe haven for Ukrainian billionaires closely associated with the Yanukovych regime. The British edition of The Telegraph writes about this today.

On a busy street in one of London's richest neighborhoods, activists are on 24-hour watch while awaiting the arrival of Ukrainian oligarchs.

It may seem strange that Akhmetov, who owns the energy and metallurgical business, should be responsible for the clashes between demonstrators and government forces, the newspaper writes. However, the political favor of Viktor Yanukovych has endowed the businessman with great influence in the country.

"The richest man in the country should not be held accountable for the people he influences," said Andrei Alekseev, a picket participant near Akhmetov's London apartment.
The second target of the picketers in London is the gas tycoon Dmirtiy Firtash.

Some political experts and economists are calling for sanctions against businessmen who provided material support to the Yanukovych regime, according to The Telegraph.

"The imposition of sanctions against oligarchs will convince them to refuse to unite with any regime and force them to take the first step towards building a legitimate business," said former White House official Damon Wilson.

Economists argue that the potential impact on Ukrainian businessmen from the UK asset freeze should not be underestimated.

“This is essentially the center of their business in Europe,” says Andres Aslund, a Swedish economist and senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics.

Any restrictions imposed on the wealth of the oligarch will make him very nervous, sums up The Telegraph. Mr. Akhmetov, with a fortune of 9 billion pounds, has significant assets in Britain, and his wife Lilia is very fond of London. Dmitry Firtash also founded with his wife the UK Firtash Foundation (Firtash Foundation in the United Kingdom), which held the Days of Ukraine in Great Britain last year.