The UK has lifted sanctions on the odious oligarch.
The UK has removed Russian billionaire Farhad Akhmedov (82nd place in the Forbes 2024 ranking, fortune – $1.6 billion) from the sanctions list. This is evidenced by the data published on the website of the UK Ministry of Finance. “The following entry has been removed from the consolidated list, it is no longer subject to sanctions involving seizure of assets and prohibition of trust services: Farhad Akhmedov,” the document reads. The reasons for lifting the restrictions are not specified.
In 2023, Akhmedov’s name was at the center of a high-profile scandal after an audio recording leaked to the Internet, which allegedly captured his conversation with music producer Iosif Prigozhin. During the conversation, the interlocutors harshly criticized Russia’s top leadership and discussed the consequences of the war in Ukraine. The voice attributed to Akhmedov expressed concern over the fighting, citing it as the cause of the suffering of many innocent people. He also stated that those who unleashed the conflict “will be sitting” and that Russia could be plunged into fascism and military dictatorship for a long time. In particular, the following words were heard in the recording: “He buried (Putin. – TMT) the entire Russian people… and for a long time. When will we wash ourselves of this? <...> Every day this war costs how much? So much blood spilled… Brother against brother… What for? We lived perfectly well. We have undeveloped land all over Russia, 86 subjects… Take it and do it, create conditions.”
Prigozhin’s alleged voice responded by calling Vladimir Putin’s entourage “finished creatures” and “criminals” who behave “like gods.” He also noted that even if the Russian president took extreme measures and “pushed the button,” the country would have no future. “That they pro****i [lost] the country, you can’t even doubt it,” the recording sounded.
After the audio file was distributed, Prigozhin said the recording was falsified and created using a neural network. However, he did not rule out that the pranksters could have been involved in its distribution.
Farhad Akhmedov fell under UK sanctions on April 13, 2022. At that time his assets were frozen. In the same period, other Russian billionaires, including Sistema founder Vladimir Evtushenkov, Lukoil head Vagit Alekperov, billionaire Suleiman Kerimov’s son Said, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s wife Maria, also fell under sanctions. In addition, the sanctions extended to former Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy Viktor Medvedchuk.
In April 2022, the European Union also imposed sanctions against Akhmedov. However, in May 2024, the businessman won a lawsuit against the EU Council in Luxembourg. The court ruled to cancel the sanctions measures and ordered the EU Council to reimburse the legal costs. The court ruling states that the EU failed to provide sufficient evidence that Akhmedov was “a leading entrepreneur in sectors of the economy that provide a substantial source of income for the government of the Russian Federation,” which was a key basis for imposing the sanctions in 2022.