Britain lifts sanctions on billionaire who renounced russian citizenship

The United Kingdom has removed from the sanctions list a russian billionaire, founder of the russian gas company Itera, Igor Makarov, who last year renounced his russian citizenship in favor of Cypriot citizenship.

It is noted that Makarov's current company, Areti, no longer operates in the russian energy sector. No other details of the decision were given.

In 2022, the British government stated that the billionaire supports or receives significant benefits from the russian government and acts in an area of strategic importance to Moscow. Along with him, russian developers God Nisanov and Zarakh Iliyev, and the founder of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company, Iskandar Makhmudov, were sanctioned.

In 2023, Makarov renounced his russian citizenship and is now a citizen of Cyprus. The British government's website lists him as a native of Turkmenistan.

Forbes magazine estimates Makarov's fortune at $2.2 billion.

This is not the first time that Britain has lifted restrictions against a russian. In the summer of 2023, sanctions were lifted against the former owner of Tinkoff Bank, Oleg Tinkov, and the former first deputy chairman of Sberbank, Lev Khasis.

Source: Ekonomichna Pravda, official website of the UK Government