New Zealand hits dozens of Russian businessmen, officials with fresh sanctions

Authorities in New Zealand have imposed sanctions on 51 Russian businessmen and 24 officials from Russia’s new regions, TASS reports on October 11, citing the New Zealand Herald.

According to the newspaper, Alexander Abramov, chairman of the board of directors of mining company Evraz, and his family were targeted through the new sanctions. The sanctions to come into effect on Wednesday will also target Andrey Akimov, Gazprombank board chairman, Vagit Alekperov, board chairman and co-owner of oil company Lukoil, Alexander Dyukov, Gazprom Neft chairman, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, ex-board chairman of AFK Sistema, Vladimir Potanin, Interros CEO and Norilsk Nickel management board chairman, Alexey Likhachev, the head of state-run corporation Rosatom, and other businessmen.

The black list also includes Vladimir Bespalov, the Kherson Region’s deputy prime minister, Anton Koltsov, the Zaporizhzhia Region's PM, deputy prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic Yevgeny Solntsev and a number of other officials from the above-mentioned regions as well as from the Lugansk People’s Republic.

Almost all sanctioned individuals will be banned from visiting New Zealand, while their planes will not be able to enter the country’s airspace and their vessels will be banned from entering New Zealand’s ports. Nor will the sanctioned individuals be able to use any services in the country, while their assets will be frozen. An exception was made for Abramov, however, in terms of assets and services.

From September 23 to September 27, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) as well as the Kherson Region and the Zaporizhzhia Region held referendums where the majority of voters reportedly opted to join Russia.

On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the self-proclaimed heads of the four new Russian regions signed treaties on their accession to Russia. On October 4, Putin signed ratification treaties to incorporate those regions into Russia.