Australia sanctions 33 Russian oligarchs, businesspeople, their families

The Australian Government announced fresh sanctions on 33 Russian oligarchs, prominent businesspeople and their immediate family members.

Report informs, citing foreign media, that he sanctions apply to Roman Abramovich, Chelsea Football Club owner, Alexey Miller the CEO of Gazprom, Dmitri Lebedev Chairman of Rossiya, Sergey Chemezov Chair of Rostec, Nikolay Tokarev CEO of Transneft, Igor Shuvalov Chairman Vnesheconombank (VEB.RF) and Kirill Dmitriev CEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

Australia believes that the indicated people 'have amassed vast personal wealth and are of economic and strategic significance to Russia.'

The country supported announcements by Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of further restrictive measures against 'key Russian individuals.'

Australian Foreign Ministry said it placed 460 sanctions on individuals and entities in past weeks. This includes the Central Bank of Russia; their national sovereign wealth fund, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF); Russia's Armed Forces; political and military figures including President Putin, and other Russians.