Usmanov lost access to his British assets

Alisher Usmanov, co-author of Russia's USM Holdings, which is under British sanctions, says he no longer owns property in Britain - and that could damage his assets.

According to reports, the £ 82m palace in Surrey and the £ 82m house in London, formerly owned by the British club Arsenal, have now been handed over to related funds.

This raises the question of how effective sanctions against Russian magnates, including Usmanov, who are considered close to Vladimir Putin will be.
The British government claims that Usmanov "lost access to assets" in Britain. On March 3, a week after the start of the war, he was blacklisted by Russian businessmen.

Usmanov's assets have been frozen and he has been barred from entering Britain. British citizens and companies are prohibited from entering into any business agreements with him.

“We will strike at the oligarchs, Putin and others closely linked to his brutal war", British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said as the UK imposed sanctions.

But now it is in doubt - Usmanov's spokesman told the BBC that the 68-year-old billionaire no longer owns much of his former assets in Britain.Usmanov's USM Holdings is a major conglomerate with interests in the mining industry and owns Russia's second-largest mobile operator, MegaFon. Usmanov's total assets are estimated at 14 billion pounds ($ 19 billion). The government list includes his British properties, including the luxury Bechwood House in north London (valued at £ 82 million by experts) and Sutton Place in Surrey.

According to Usmanov's spokesman, many of his assets and yachts have been irretrievably transferred to trust funds.

The terms of such transfer shall, as a rule, not be subsequently changed by the founder.

Usmanov stopped owning the assets by handing them over, his spokesman said. “Usmanov cannot manage them or enter into sales contracts, he can now use the assets only on a lease basis", a spokesman for the oligarch said in a comment to the BBC’s Panorama program.