Questions for Peter Mandelson and George Osborne after Yachtgate oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who partied with them on £80million vessel in Corfu, is sanctioned over links to Putin regime
- Deripaska, who was once Russia’s richest man, one of seven people targeted
- He was embroiled in a row in 2008 that was dubbed Yachtgate
- Osborne accused of trying to solicit donation for Tories – something he denies
- Mandelson stayed on Queen K but ‘offered no favours and received no favours’
A billionaire oligarch who once caused a political furore by meeting former Labour minister Peter Mandelson and then future chancellor George Osborne aboard his £80million yacht was hit with sanctions today.
Oil tycoon Oleg Deripaska, who was once Russia’s richest man, was one of seven people targeted by the Government today in a ratcheting up of action designed to put pressure on the Putin regime.
He was embroiled in a row in 2008 that was dubbed Yachtgate, after his meetings with the senior Labour and Tory figures was revealed.
Both men met Mr Deripaska on his yacht, with Mr Osborne accused of trying to solicit a donation for the Tory party – something he denies.
Lord Mandelson, who was then an EU trade commissioner, stayed on the Queen K off the Greek island. He went on to become business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government as a Labour peer.
By the time they met Deripaska had already been targeted by the United States, which cancelled his visa in 2007.
The Russian is believed to have a fortune of £3.2billion. Last year, Isle of Wight MP used Parliamentary Privilege to describe him as ‘one of President Putin’s most loyal oligarchs’.
He owns a house in London’s Belgrave Square and is a grandson by marriage to the late leader of the Soviet Union Boris Yeltsin.
He has been sanctioned by the US since 2018 over alleged links to the Russian government, including allegations of cyber-attacks and election meddling.
He called the claims ‘a lie’, adding: ‘The idea that I am some kind of ”Kremlin operative”… is clearly idiotic nonsense.’
Oil and metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska, who was once Russia’s richest man, was one of seven people targeted by the Government today in a ratcheting up of action designed to put pressure on the Putin regime.
Mr Osborne was accused of trying to solicit a donation for the Tory party – something he denies. Lord Mandelson, who was then an EU trade commissioner, stayed on the Queen K (below) off the Greek island
In a bitter £650million legal battle at the High Court in 2012, he was alleged to have ties to brutal organised crime gangs which emerged after the collapse of Communism in the former Soviet Union.
He vehemently denied the allegations – revealed in legal papers filed as part of the case – and counter-claimed that he was the victim of an ‘old-fashioned protection racket’ run by the Mafia-style gangs.
Mr Deripaska said he had been forced to pay more than half a billion dollars to the gangs over seven years and had feared for his safety and that of his family.
His one time business partner, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, has been hit with the same measures – as have Rosneft chief Igor Sechin and four more described as being in Putin’s ‘inner circle’.
After the Corfu meeting with Deripaska was revealed, Mr Osborne admitted meeting him on four occasions over the course of a weekend in the Mediterranean in August 2008.
He insisted they had not discussed donations, which are allowed only from UK-registered voters, bbbut later admitted the meetings were ‘a mistake’.
Mandelson also denied any wrongdoing, telling the Guardian: ‘What is important is not where you meet somebody or how long you meet them for but what you do during the meeting.
‘In my case, I offered no favours and I received no favours, unlike George Osborne, who was holding conversations around his visits in order to obtain a financial contribution to the Conservative party.’
The Foreign Office said the Economic Crime Bill coming into force next week ‘will allow UK Government to move further and faster than ever on sanctions’.
Boris Johnson said: ‘There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine.
‘Today’s sanctions are the latest step in the UK’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people. We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.’
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss added: ‘Today’s sanctions show once again that oligarchs and kleptocrats have no place in our economy or society. With their close links to Putin they are complicit in his aggression.
‘The blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands. They should hang their heads in shame.
‘Our support for Ukraine will not waver. We will not stop in this mission to ramp up the pressure on the Putin regime and choke off funds to his brutal war machine.’
The Foreign Office said the oligarchs have a collective net worth of around £15billion.
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