Welcome everyone to the
Martiak Market Update with your host Mark Martiak. Mark is a Managing Director
of Investments with AGP/Alliance Global Partners, a
registered investment adviser and broker-dealer, member of FINRA/SIPC. This show will explore topics
ranging from market updates to the global economy and personal finance. Money
is knowledge, and Mark wants to help you navigate your relationship with money
by offering timely guidance and his unique perspective. Here's Mark Martiak.
Mark speaking: Welcome.
Thank you for joining me as we discuss key trends shaping our industries and
markets.
It’s been a humanitarian crisis for the
people of Ukraine, many of whom have faced devastation as the Russian invasion
and war entered a third week.
You hear a lot about economic sanctions that
have been put in place by countries including the U.S..
During this program, I want to look at sanctions
placed on Russia’s Oligarchs who are on the move amid a global dragnet that
Western governments have cast to ensnare their yachts, villas, jets, and bank
accounts.
You May HaveWondered: What is a Russian Oligarch?Oligarchs — or extremely wealthy business leaders who are
politically connected — became
more prominent in Russia in the 1990s, but they are not unique to
Russia.
Many Russian oligarchs are heavily involved in and benefit from
Russian President Vladimir
Putin's regime, with some serving in political positions.
For example, when Putin opened a new bridge to
Crimea in 2018 — a region Russia had annexed from Ukraine in 2014 —
the bridge was built by his friend Arkady Rotenberg's company and the truck he
drove across it was made by Sergei Chemezov's state corporation Rostec,
according to The
Carnegie Moscow Center, a think-tank that focuses on domestic and
foreign policy.
There is often a line of succession for oligarchs
in politics. For example, Dmitry Patrushev, the son of Russian Security Council
Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, was appointed as Russia's minister of agriculture,
according to The Carnegie Moscow Center.
Numerous Russian oligarchs and government officials were
sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018, in part for the regime's occupation of Crimea
and for continuing to instigate violence in Ukraine, according to the U.S.
Treasury Department, which announced the sanctions. Rotenberg’s son and Patruskev
were included in that round of sanctions for their involvement with the regime.
"Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from
11 mins