The Czech government has seized the accounts and property of Vladimir Yevtushenkov, a Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin - the Czech media reports. Vladimir Yevtushenkov and his son Felix were placed on the Czech national sanctions list at the end of June - for “systematic activities that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine.”
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Among the seized assets of the Yevtushenkovs is the five-star Savoy Westend Hotel, located in the resort town of Karlovy Vary. According to the information of the Czech Public Broadcaster, influential Russian politicians, businessmen, and artists used to rest in this hotel in the past years. The hotel is now operating in a limited capacity - only those who have booked before the end of July reside there.
According to the state TV channel, the total value of the property of the Yevtushenkov family in the resort town exceeds 500 million Czech crowns (more than 20 million US dollars). According to journalists, the value of the confiscated property is about 100 million crowns ($4.6 million).
The Czech publication Seznam Zprávy writes that the Russian oligarch controls the five-star hotel complex through the company - Lunisoft. He also owns a next-door villa - Shakespeare under the company Sarlen.
Vladimir Evtushenkov owns the joint-stock company Radiotechnical and Information Systems, which is one of the largest contracting companies of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. Radio Technical and Information Systems was founded in 2011 by Yevtushenkov's company Sistema. Sistema also controls the company Kronstadt, which produces unmanned aerial vehicles.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in April 2022, when Great Britain sanctioned Vladimir Yevtushenkov, he resigned as the chairman of the board of directors of Sistema. In addition, the billionaire reduced his stake in the company to 49.2% and transferred 10% of the authorized capital to his son, Felix Yevtushenkov. In April 2023, Great Britain also sanctioned Felix Yevtushenkov.
According to Forbes, Vladimir Yevtushenkov is in the 51st place in the ranking of Russian billionaires and his fortune is 1.7 billion dollars. Yevtushenkov is close to the Georgian billionaire and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. In April 2022, a secret recording of their telephone conversation was released, where Yevtushenkov asks Ivanishvili to have Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili meet his representative sent to Tbilisi. The recording also mentions businessman Davit Khidasheli, to whom the government transferred 104,712 hectares of forest in Racha for 49 years. “Yes, Vladimir Yevtushenkov is my friend, whom I've known for over 30 years,” says Khidasheli. He heads the Board of Directors of Intracom Telecom Solution. This company is also linked with Yevtushenkov's Sistema.
Vladimir Yevtushenkov, like his son, is not among those sanctioned by the European Union, although sanctions have been imposed against him by Great Britain, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, and now - the Czech Republic (until then, only the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill (Vladimir) Gundyaev was on the Czech national sanctions list).
