High-profile oligarch Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK with his assets frozen along with Oleg Deripaska and five others as Liz Truss accused them of having Ukrainian “blood on their hands” because of links to President Putin. Which is laudable, if belated and not a touch hypocritical since Abramovitch for one has been a long established fixture in Britain. He has owned Chelsea Football Club since 2003, as well as a £150 million 15-bedroom mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens and a three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront circa £22 million, as well as part owning a Russian steel manufacturer which may have been “supplying steel to the Russian military. He and Deripaska succeeded in embedding themselves into London’s political, financial and social establishment, enabled by a tranche of UK bankers, lawyers and spin doctors keen to help them launder their reputations as well as their fortunes.
The Times remarks: “There is no question that all these men have close links to, and indeed owe their fortunes to, the Kremlin and their relationship with President Putin. That they have been able to continue to enjoy and even grow their fortunes in Britain, with all the protections available in this country that Russia is seeking to deny the people of Ukraine, has rightly provoked considerable anger. In Mr Abramovich’s case the abuse of those protections included hiring expensive lawyers to intimidate journalists who dared to pry into his dealings.”
The blowback from Putin’s attack has also hastened a long-awaited Economic Crime Bill intent on introducing much-needed transparency into the ownership of British property and English-registered companies.
Pluto in Capricorn finally sweeping out some financial muck.
Abramovitch, 24 October 1966, is a Sun Scorpio conjunct Venus in a lucky square to Jupiter in Leo, with Uranus Pluto in Virgo opposition Saturn, sextile/trine Neptune Mercury in Scorpio – charming, determined, slippery. Tr Neptune is in a highly-strung opposition to his Uranus exactly now and in an uncertain, panicky conjunction to his Saturn from the middle of this month on for a few weeks – and both these influences run into 2023. He also has tr Pluto making a pressured square to his Venus and then Sun between 2022 to 2024, which will change his life out of all recognition. He has some ups ahead as well as downs – these guys didn’t get to where they are by being unresourceful – and he’s no doubt tucked some goodies away somewhere for a rainy day.
Oleg Deripaska, an aluminium, steel making and mining investor, 2 January 1968, is a Sun Mercury in Capricorn square a self-reliant Saturn in Aries and in a lucky trine to Jupiter. He has a Yod of Pluto sextile Neptune inconjunct Mars in determined Aquarius, so no slouch when it comes to exerting his will. His chart looks more rattled than Abramovitch’s ahead – though both are without birth times so Abramovitch could be in worse shape than he appears. Deripaska looks flattened, devastated and knocked totally sideways in 2023/24.
Alisher Usmanov, 9 September 1953, metal, mining and investments, has been sanctioned by the EU and USA. He’s a Sun Virgo, with Saturn Neptune in Libra square Uranus, and trine Jupiter, sextile Mars Pluto – ruthless, lucky, never gives up. He’s sagging badly this year but like Deripaska looks in more trouble by 2023/24.
Igor Sechin, 7 September 1960, chairman of the Russian state oil company Rosneft, is a Sun Pluto in Virgo with an unbudgeable Pluto trine Saturn sextile Neptune; and a risk-taking, opportunistic Jupiter opposition Mars in Gemini square Mercury. His morale and confidence are on a fast downhill slide this year with tr Neptune square his Mars and Jupiter as his fortune freezes. He’ll be in a ferocious battle with insurmountable obstacles in 2023 to 2026, which he’ll attack with vigour but progress will be spasmodic.
Andrey Kostin, chairman of VTB state owned bank, 21 September 1956, has been under sanction by the US since 2018 and now the UK. He’s yet another Virgo with an unyielding, tough Pluto square Saturn in Scorpio and an opportunistic Mars opposition Jupiter. Devastated and depressed in 2022/23 with his life turned upside down in 2023/24.
Summarising – clearly undermined this year but the major debacles for most occur in 2023 or 2024. Which would fit with Putin toppling over then.
Some aggrieved oligarchs may seek revenge against Johnson and his crew. Look out for damaging leaks in the media in times to come…knowing where the bodies are buried and perhaps with support of FSB they can do a fair bit of political damage I suspect.
I wondered if going after the oligarchs would ultimately have much influence on Putin’s thinking re Ukraine. I watched an interview with Alexandra Tolstoy, (who I’d never heard of before) a couple of days ago. Apparently her estranged husband, Sergei Pugachev, used to be in Putin’s circle but fell from favour some years back. She lived in that circle for eight years and close enough to be in a room with Putin sometimes, and so presumably knows what she is talking about, and said Putin makes the Godfather look like something out of Frozen. She described him as ruthless, no empathy and no human emotion and said the oligarchs have much less influence than they used to. and Putin now surrounds with men like himself from the security council and generals and who unlike the oligarchs aren’t necessarily motivated by money. She reckons sanctions might even benefit them as they have a very internalised and dependent population and they, like Putin are driven by the same paranoia and insecurity viv-a-vis the west although many have never been there but driven by jealousy and bitterness. When asked if she thought Putin had a strategy or that he wanted to leave a legacy, she replied neither. He was someone suffering from NPD and the war was more about his bruised ego, personal and he felt he was being diminished by the west and was just lashing out. If she’s right, the sanctions may well clear up some of the Russian mafia, although I suspect they’ll just find another place to hole up, but it doesn’t bode well for getting Putin to change his mind anytime soon unfortunately.
You’re probably right unfortunately but at least it cleans London up slightly if the government follows through for the future.
I think that is a very pertinent point Solaia. Most of the oligarchs got rich during the Wild East era under Yeltsin. At the same time average Russians saw their living standards decline so that many were worse off than they had been in the days of the Soviet Union. Part of Putin’s political rise was down his willingness to harness the power of the state to ensure that the oligarchy functioned at least in part to the benefit of the average Russian. This trick is going to be increasingly difficult to maintain. Marjorie has pointed out that Putin and most of his cronies grew up in the 1950s and 1960s so their formative experience would have been of a Russia ruled by the Communist Party. It was a world where preserving the political power structure to precedence over any economic considerations. In a crisis I can see Putin and his circle resorting to a command and control economy with the state directing all areas of production. The problem with that solution is that the Soviet era economic model was not hugely successful. In fact its failure was largely responsible for the collapse of communism. Russia’s current gangster state does not really have much more than an instinctive nationalism as an underlying ideology so I am not sure it is going to anymore resilient than it’s Soviet predecessors who at least had Marxist Leninism and a sizeable Communist party membership vested in maintaining the system. Lurking in the background is the danger that Russia itself may descend into civil war sometime in the future and in its weakened state some of its southern and eastern neighbours may be tempted to try and seize chunks of it. In that respect the war in the Ukraine may be laying the foundation for more disasters down the road.
@ Sarah C, Alexandra Tolstoy is good, and she definitely has a point in oligarchs not mattering as much as they used to to Putin. However, based on your description, she misses one point: Putin’s appeal to average Russians is the seeming economic stability and even growth he has offered. Remember, Putin came to power after horrendous economic crash of 1998 that toppled Yeltsin. After that, the economy was rebuilt on companies owned by oligarchs. These companies employ large chunks of population..There are towns that were, during Soviet times, manufacturing hubs employing people in one or two giganfic factories. Many of these passes to Putin’s oligarchs. They were able to draw investments from abroad and somewhat modernize their lines. But now, given the owners are sanctioned everywhere, they won’t get investments. And even if their products, let’s say oil pipe lines, are sold internally, the price paid is subject to tremendous inflation. There have already been walkouts in Urals and Siberia, it seems. Purchase power is going down fast, not that it’s an issue, given supermarkets can’t restock after many international companies seized operations, and there’s talk about nationalizing production. But this will take time.
So, I would say sanctioning oligarchs only doesn’t matter, it’s a combination of economic sanctions never seen before.
Marjorie, there’s a lot to give credit for you, but one thing I’m particularly grateful about is keeping track of Russian Oligarchs. I’ve heard so many people in the past two weeks say how “Western World didn’t care”, when actually there have been those of us shouting to the wind for years, sometime well over a decade. I guess it comes with having exposure to these type’s “play grounds”, Londongrad being obviously the biggest one, but I’m not counting out Helsinki, where Timochenko and Rotenbergs – Putin’s judo buddies – have long held residence.
What’s important to know is that all of these people own, ultimately, their fortunes to Putin. It seems he is running a mafia style extortion plan. Most of oligarchs are former state company heads. But in the past 20 years or so, private haven’t been able to grow beyond a certain point without Kremlin’s approval. Now, this system is inevitably collapsing due to sanctions. More interestingly, here have been some obviously until now unverified voices that disastrous performance in Ukraine is has now sparkled first Kremlin purges – lower level FSB chiefs and Generals for the moment, but ultimately, Putin’s search for scape goats will arrive to highest ranks of power.
Therefore, some of the oligarchs, who own everything to Putin, may be purged. Some may rebel, or even seek political power to save their lives and fortunes, therefore, I have few observations about these oligarchs that may illustrate where downfall/ (relative) rescue may come :
– Deripaska has particular ties to Sergey Lavrov, Lavrov’s “second” family often using his jets and visiting yachts, amply documented by a Kensington based, Instagram addicted stepdaughter. Therefore, it might be wise to listen to him, because he might be voicing Lavrov’s real thoughts.
– Abramovitch has possible protection from Israeli Government, he has citizenship I think and has been a generous patron of Yad Vashem. I think him looking better than the rest is likely also due to these deep Israeli ties.
– Usmanov’s wife Irina Viner was coach to Alina Kabaeva, constantly rumored to be Putin’s girlfriend and mother to four of his children. It’s said she introduced Alina to Putin. That said, no symphathy expected from those quarters, Alina has a very Taurus heavy chart that indicates she will always look after herself first.
– Sechin, having worked in Mozambique in the1980’s, is, with 100 per cent certainty, an ex-KGB agent. Apparently, his daughter is married to a current FSB agent. FSB, which handles not only Russia, but former Soviet states, will be blamed for Ukrainian intel disaster (not realizing Ukrainians have moved in from Soviet times.)
– Kostin is the only one who studied economics, but this definitely won’t help with Russian banks bound to default.
So, I think some will fall “out of favor” in coming Kremlin purges, while others may ride the storm for a while, and Abramovich even create a new career somehow.
Thank you, Solaia, for your insightful analysis of this situation. The depth of your knowledge and appreciation for American politics — infinitely better than most Americans’ — has always impressed me. Now I see how much more expansive your knowledge is.
And thank you especially to Marjorie for providing this outstanding platform.
This total astrology-ignoramus is learning so much about astrology as well as gaining unexpected insights into areas I’ve known so little about.
Thank you Marjorie for another interesting post. I am wondering how badly this clampdown on Russian Oligarchs will affect the Main UK political parties. Does astrology say anything about the funding or money situation of the political parties in current climate?