Up until about six weeks ago, being a Russian Oligarch sounded like a pretty cool gig. Fly around the world in customized Gulfstreams. Sail across the seas on mega yachts worth as much as an NBA franchise cost in the 1990s. Assets, cash, and real estate are hidden throughout the world to fuel the life of luxury.
Those days are over. The leaders of the free world are trying to make life as unpleasant as possible for the lucky few who got uber wealth thanks to their relationship with Vladimir Putin, and there’s something new that came out this week that will give the oligarchs another headache.
On Monday, a nonprofit reporting network was launched. It’s called the Russian Asset Tracker, and essentially it’s a database that monitors and lists all the assets of every oligarch.
The network is a collar between the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and 27 media outlets. The tracker is interactive and shows details of the incredible wealth the Russian oligarchs, and other friends of Putin have.
All told, it lists over 150 assets. We’re talking yachts, mansions, private jets, stock, art, cars, and other toys. The stash they uncovered totals about $17 billion.
Here’s what the publisher of the project said in a press release.
“Russia under Vladimir Putin has been controlled by a very small group of people, enablers who keep him in power while benefiting from his patronage system at the expense of the Russian people.”
The idea was hatched in February, before Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. There was a list of 35 people that came from information from Alexei Navalny, one of Putin’s opposition leaders serving time in prison.
Three weeks after the invasion, 27 of the men on the list were having sanctions slapped on them by the West.
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