The British government has added a Croatian businessman to its blacklist of persons and companies in relation to his support of Moscow amid the invasion of Ukraine.
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced the new sanctions on Friday, which will see the freezing of funds and economic resources belonging to 13 persons, entities or bodies “involved in destabilizing Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine, or obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia.”
In addition to 11 Russians and one national of Kazakhstan, wealthy Croatian businessman Mihajlo Perenčević was added to the list over his ties to the Russian government.
Perenčević is the president of the Russian pipeline construction company Velesstroy. The corporation is responsible for constructing oil and gas pipelines, as well as infrastructure projects.
According to UK authorities, Velesstroy is “carrying on business in sectors of strategic significance to the Government of Russia” amid the latter’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Perenčević was the subject of an investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) in 2020, which uncovered his links to the so-called Troika Laundromat. The investigation found that Perenčević’s family and close allies secured millions of dollars from Russia via fraudulent real estate transactions.
According to the investigation, the funds were then deposited in Perenčević’s personal bank accounts in Austria, likely evading Croatian money laundering rules, taxes and inquiries as to the origin of the funds.
A separate investigation in 2021 exposed how Perenčević’s family took control of Croatian real estate developer Jadranka in 2014, using a trust to send payments from Velesstroy to Jadranka.
According to the follow-up investigation, Velesstroy paid large incentives to Perenčević’s brother. These, too, were funneled into the trust as a possible means of tax avoidance. Even so, the transfers triggered anti-money laundering red flags, leading to their exposure.
In its announcement of the placement of sanctions on the Croatian businessman, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation placed sole responsibility for Velesstroy operations on Perenčević.
“Perenčević owns or controls directly or indirectly Velesstroy because it is reasonable… to expect that Perenčević would (if Perenčević chose to) be able, in most cases or in significant respects, by whatever means and whether directly or indirectly, to achieve the result that affairs of Velesstroy are conducted in accordance with Perenčević’s wishes,” the announcement read.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s cousin and President of Russian coal mining company JSC Kolmar Group, Anna Tsivileva, was also sanctioned by British authorities.
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