As part of mitigating measures in response to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, a Russian billionaire with commercial ties to Everton FC has just had his assets put on freeze by the European Union.<\/p>\n
Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov’s company, USM Holdings, is known to have various sponsorship links to Everton and has been blacklisted by the EU in a list of oligarchs slapped with sanctions \u2013 including an asset freeze and a prohibition from making funds available to the listed individuals and entities \u2013 as well as a travel ban to prevent them from entering or transiting through EU territory because of apparent links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n
In its elucidation, the EU Council said:\u00a0\u00a0“Alisher Usmanov is a pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n
“He has been referred to as one of Putin\u2019s favorite oligarchs.”<\/p>\n
The council also said Usmanov “actively supported materially or financially Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine.”<\/p>\n
It is unknown as yet at this early stage the effect these sanctions will have on Everton.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Boris Johnson met his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, in Warsaw on Tuesday morning to to discuss the UK\u2019s financial and diplomatic support for central Europe as it faces the prospect of a dire humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister then flew off to Estonia right after the meeting to meet with leaders in Tallinn, Estonia, before visiting British troops serving alongside NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg.<\/p>\n
The visit is part of a concerted push for Western unity in punishing the Russian president for starting a conflict that has even at this early juncture taken \u201chundreds\u201d of lives in only five days and urged allies to \u201cspeak with one voice\u201d to ensure \u201cPutin must fail\u201d.<\/p>\n
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