ZAGREB, 23 April 2022 - Croatia has begun to block the assets of Russian nationals who are under sanctions, the Večernji List said on Saturday, adding that Russian-owned holiday homes, forests and companies have been seized.
Based on the EU sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Croatia has blocked the property of the wife and sister of Alisher Usmanov, one of the richest Russians, on the southern peninsula of Pelješac, the newspaper said, citing documents from public registers.
It appears that in locating Russian-owned properties in Croatia the Croatian authorities have largely relied on the findings of the Oštro website, the only Croatian website to be participating in the international journalistic project the Russian Asset Tracker, which tracks down the assets of Russians close to President Vladimir Putin.
Oštro has found that Usmanov's wife Irina Viner-Usmanova and his sister Guljbahor Ismailova are behind the off-shore and Croatian companies registered as the owners of the Pelješac properties concerned.
Among the properties seized is a villa in Mali Lošinj, on the northern Adriatic island of Lošinj, which is owned by a company in which Maja Tokareva is a member of the management board. She is a daughter of Nikolay Tokarev, president of the Transneft oil pipeline company, which is also under EU sanctions.
For now there are no indications in the court register of companies and land books that Croatia intends to block a villa in Lozica, an attractive section of Dubrovnik, owned by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, or a villa on Šipan island, off Dubrovnik, Večernji List said.
An anonymous source told Večernji List in early March that Putin's friends had renovated Katino Villa and its large grounds on Šipan island for Dmitry Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council.
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