Canada says it will seize $26 million in assets from firm owned by Roman Abramovich

Announcing first time Ottawa seizes assets of a Russian oligarch, deputy minister says government will use funds from Granite Capital Holdings to support Ukraine’s reconstruction

By AFP 19 December 2022, 8:26 pm

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Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich, owner of England's Chelsea Football Club, leaves the high court in London for a lunch break, October 31, 2011. (AP Photo/Sang Tan/File)

OTTAWA, Canada — Canada’s government on Monday announced the start of a process to seize $26 million in assets from a company owned by sanctioned Russian-Israeli oligarch Roman Abramovich.

While several of its Western allies have seized yachts, oil, and gas ventures and other assets of people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, this is the first time Canada is moving to do so.

Ottawa said it would seek a court application to go after Abramovich’s Granite Capital Holdings, and use the proceeds for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

“Putin’s oligarchs are complicit in Russia’s illegal and barbaric invasion of Ukraine,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.

“Canada will not be a haven for their ill-gotten gains, and today’s announcement demonstrates our determination to ensure that Russia’s elites pay the price for their support of Putin’s brutal regime,” she said.

Abramovich, 56, the former owner of the Chelsea football club in London, has been sanctioned by Canada, as well as Britain and the EU.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Canada has slapped sanctions on more than 1,500 Russian individuals and entities, and their supporters.