The European Union has added three of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest associates to a list of Russians barred from entering the EU.
The decision to add more senior figures in Russia’s business and political elite to the blacklist was made on Tuesday (29 July), but the names were revealed yesterday evening.
The three associates of the Russian president are Arkady Rotenberg, Yuri Kovalchuk and Nikolai Shamalov. Assets that they hold in the EU must now also be frozen by the member states.
Rotenberg has been a long-time friend and judo sparring partner for Putin, a personal detail that, unusually, is mentioned in …read more
Source: European Voice
