russian oligarchs continue to do business in the Netherlands despite sanctions

“Sanctioned russian oligarchs are exploiting loopholes in Dutch law to continue doing business,” the report says.

It is noted that they give their companies worth hundreds of millions the status of microbusinesses. Such actions allow them to conceal financial flows and avoid strict reporting requirements, the publication notes.

As an example, NOS cites steel magnate Alexei Mordashov, who became rich in the 90s and was placed on the EU sanctions list after russia's invasion of Ukraine. His company SMTT Holding BV is registered in Amsterdam. Until recently, the company's value was 65 million euros, but it is classified as a microenterprise, so it does not need to disclose key financial data.

Another example is Airport Alliance (Netherlands), a subsidiary of the russian bank VTB, which is run by putin's associate Andrei Kostin. It is under sanctions from the US, EU, UK, and other countries.

Safmar, a company associated with billionaire Mikhail Gutseriev, also operates in the Netherlands. Gutseriev is on the sanctions lists of the European Union, Canada, and others because of his ties to the russian leadership and self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.

In the Netherlands, a company can obtain microbusiness status if it has fewer than 10 employees, a book value of up to EUR 450 thousand, and annual net profit of less than EUR 900 thousand.

The microbusiness status allows companies not to disclose information about profits, taxes, and assets, not to have their financial statements audited, and not to submit minimum annual reports.

Initially, such rules were introduced to reduce bureaucratic pressure on small businesses, but now they are being used to their advantage by russian oligarchs to circumvent sanctions.

Source: NOS