什麼是俄羅斯富豪政客？

Recently Yahoo New on-line reported the following:

What is a Russian oligarch?

CBS News - Caitlin O'Kane

Thu, March 3, 2022, 4:41 PM

The U.S. Justice Department has created a task force to go after the assets of Russian oligarchs, with the Biden administration vowing to seize their yachts, luxury apartments and private jets. But what are oligarchs? And how is their wealth connected to Russia's invasion of Ukraine?

What is a Russian oligarch?

Oligarchs — or extremely wealthy business leaders who are politically connected — became more prominent in Russia in the 1990s, but they are not unique to Russia.

Many Russian oligarchs are heavily involved in and benefit from Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime, with some serving in political positions.

For example, when Putin opened a new bridge to Crimea in 2018 — a region Russia had annexed from Ukraine in 2014 — the bridge was built by his friend Arkady Rotenberg's company and the truck he drove across it was made by Sergei Chemezov's state corporation Rostec, according to The Carnegie Moscow Center, a think-tank that focuses on domestic and foreign policy.

There is often a line of succession for oligarchs in politics. For example, Dmitry Patrushev, the son of Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, was appointed as Russia's minister of agriculture, according to The Carnegie Moscow Center.

Numerous Russian oligarchs and government officials were sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018, in part for the regime's occupation of Crimea and for continuing to instigate violence in Ukraine, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, which announced the sanctions. Rotengberg's son and Patruskev were included in that round of sanctions for their involvement with the regime.

"Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from this corrupt system will no longer be insulated from the consequences of their government's destabilizing activities," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a press release about those sanctions.

Why are some oligarchs being sanctioned now?

The Justice Department says the new multi-agency initiative known as Task Force KleptoCapture aims to enforce the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions and economic countermeasures that the United States and its allies and partners have imposed on Russia following its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions are designed "to isolate Russia from global markets and impose serious costs for this unjustified act of war, by targeting the crimes of Russian officials, government-aligned elites, and those who aid or conceal their unlawful conduct."

"To those bolstering the Russian regime through corruption and sanctions evasion: we will deprive you of safe haven and hold you accountable," Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said in a press release. "Oligarchs be warned: we will use every tool to freeze and seize your criminal proceeds."

While the task force aims to hold the sanctioned Russian elite accountable following the country's invasion of Ukraine, tracking down and seizing their assets will not be easy.

These extraordinarily wealthy and powerful individuals — including Vladimir Putin himself — have taken elaborate steps to protect their wealth around the globe.

Some oligarchs are trying to dodge penalties by moving assets — like their mega-yachts — into territories where sanctions don't apply and where their property cannot be seized or their assets frozen.

What happens now?

Financier and anti-corruption advocate Bill Browder told CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge that the goal is to get oligarchs to pressure Putin to stop the war. "We're not ready to engage in military warfare, so there's an expression we should fight them in the banks if we can't fight them with tanks," Browder said.

Some wealthy Russians have spoken out against Putin's attack on Ukraine. Mikhail Fridman, who founded one of Russia's largest largest private banks, said he does not believe war should be a solution.

Evgeny Lebedev, the son of an oligarch and owner of London's Evening Standard, ran a statement on the front page of his newspaper under the headline, "President Putin, please stop this war."

"As a Russian citizen I plead with you to stop Russians killing their Ukrainian brothers and sisters. As a British citizen I ask you to save Europe from war," wrote Lebedev, whose father, Alexander Lebedev, is a former KGB agent turned bank owner.

Another Russian business mogul, Oleg Deripaska, took to the messaging platform Telegram to share his statement. He is considered an ally of Putin, but wrote that "peace is very important" and talks to end the war should begin "as soon as possible," according to The Associated Press.

Translation

美國司法部成立了一個工作組來追查俄羅斯富豪政客(oligarch)的資產，拜登政府發誓要沒收他們的遊艇、豪華公寓和私人飛機。但什麼是富豪政客？他們的財富與俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭有何關聯？

什麼是俄羅斯富豪政客？

富豪政客 - 或與政治有聯繫的極其富有的商業領袖 - 在1990 年代俄羅斯變得更加突出，但他們並不是俄羅斯獨有的。

許多俄羅斯大商賈積極參與並受益於俄羅斯總統普京的政權，其中一些人擔任政治職務。

據專注於國內和外交政策的智庫卡內基莫斯科中心(The Carnegie Moscow Center)稱, 例如當普京在 2018 年開通了一座通往克里米亞的新橋時 - 該地區是俄羅斯在 2014 年從烏克蘭吞併的地區 - 這座橋是由他的朋友 Arkady Rotenberg 的公司建造的，而他開車過橋的卡車是由 Sergei Chemezov 的國有企業 Rostec 製造。

政治上的大商賈通常有一系列的繼承人。例如，據卡內基莫斯科中心稱，俄羅斯安全委員會秘書Nikolai Patrushev的兒子Dmitry Patrushev被任命為俄羅斯農業部長。

據宣布製裁的美國財政部稱，許多俄羅斯富豪政客和政府官員在 2018 年受到美國製裁，部分原因是該政權佔領了克里米亞並繼續在烏克蘭煽動暴力。 Rotengberg 的兒子和 Patruskev 因參與該政權而被包括在那一輪制裁中。

財政部長 Steve Mnuchin 在關於這些制裁的新聞稿中說：“從這個腐敗體系中獲利的俄羅斯大商賈和精英將不再免受其政府破壞穩定活動的後果的影響。”

為什麼現在有些大商賈受到製裁？

司法部表示，被稱為 KleptoCapture 的特遣部隊的新多機構倡議行動，旨在執行美國及其盟國和合作夥伴在俄羅斯無端入侵烏克蘭後對俄羅斯實施的全面製裁、出口限制和經濟反制措施。

制裁旨在“透過針對俄羅斯官員、與政府結盟的精英以,及幫助或掩蓋其非法行為的人，將俄羅斯與全球市場孤立出來，並為這種不合理的戰爭行為施加嚴重代價” 。

副檢察長 Lisa O. Monaco 在一份新聞稿中說: “對於那些通過腐敗和逃避制裁來支持俄羅斯政權的人：我們將剝奪你們的避風港並追究你們的責任” ; “富豪政客們被警告：我們將使用一切工具凍結和沒收你的犯罪所得” 。

儘管該工作組的目標是在該國入侵烏克蘭後追究受制裁的俄羅斯精英的責任，但追查和扣押他們的資產並非易事。

這些極其富有和有權勢的人 - 包括普京本人 - 已經採取了精心的步驟來保護他們在全球的財富。

一些富豪政客試圖通過將資產（例如他們的超級遊艇）轉移到不適用制裁、無法沒收財產或凍結資產的地區來逃避處罰。

現在會發生什麼？

金融家和反腐敗倡導者 Bill Browder 告訴哥倫比亞廣播公司新聞高級調查記者 Catherine Herridge，其目標是讓寡頭向普京施壓以停止戰爭。 Browder說: “我們還沒有準備好進行軍事戰爭，所以有一種說法是，如果我們不能用坦克打擊他們，我們就應該在銀行打擊他們” 。

一些富有的俄羅斯人公開反對普京襲擊烏克蘭。創立俄羅斯最大的私人銀行之一的 Mikhail Fridman 說，他不認為戰爭應該是解決辦法。

Evgeny Lebedev是一位大商賈的兒子，也是倫敦標準晚報的所有者，他在報紙頭版發表聲明，標題為“普京總統，請停止這場戰爭”。

Evgeny Lebedev 寫道: “作為一名俄羅斯公民，我懇求你們阻止俄羅斯人殺害他們的烏克蘭兄弟姐妹。作為一名英國公民，我請求你們拯救歐洲免於戰爭” 。 Lebedev 的父親 Alexander Lebedev是一名前KGB特工，後來成為銀行家。

另一位俄羅斯商業大亨 Oleg Deripaska 在消息平台 Telegram 上分享了他的聲明。 據美聯社報導，他被認為是普京的盟友，但寫道 “和平非常重要” ，結束戰爭的談判應該“盡快”開始。

So, the U.S. Justice Department has created a task force to go after the assets of Russian oligarchs to seize their yachts, luxury apartments and private jets. Hopefully, such actions could pressure Putin to stop the Russian aggression in Ukraine.