Yevtushenkov, pictured in 2018 during an event in Luxembourg, has been hit by UK sanctions but remains honorary consul for Luxembourg Library photo: Marie De Decker

Yevtushenkov, pictured in 2018 during an event in Luxembourg, has been hit by UK sanctions but remains honorary consul for Luxembourg Library photo: Marie De Decker

Luxembourg has suspended Russian billionaire Viktor Rashnikov as honorary consul after he was sanctioned by the EU. UK-sanctioned businessman Vladimir Yevtushenkov, however, remains in office.

The foreign ministry in March said it had withdrawn the title of honorary consul from Valery Gergiev effective immediately. The conductor is considered a close friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin and in 2014 had signed an appeal supporting the annexation of Crimea.

Foreign minister Jean Asselborn (LSAP) that the mandates of other honorary consuls are also being reviewed.

The ministry has since cut ties with steel magnate Viktor Rashnikov, who has been sanctioned by the EU. Rashnikov is described as “a leading Russian oligarch” in EU documents.

His company, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, is one of Russia’s largest taxpayers. “The tax burden on the company increased lately, resulting in considerably higher proceeds to the Russian state budget,” the EU said.

His suspension leaves only two Russian honorary consuls in office--Yevtushenkov, the owner of the Sistema conglomerate, and businessman Roman Trotsenko--who have not been sanctioned by the EU. They both still from which Gergiev and Rashnikov have disappeared.

Sistema group owner transfers shares

Yevtushenkov’s company Kronshtadt--part of the Sistema Group--reportedly supplies weapons-capable drones for Russian forces. The UK has imposed sanctions on the billionaire over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Protesters recently gathered outside his London home calling for “blood money” to leave the city. But he remains untouched by Brussels.

Luxembourg’s ex-economy minister and deputy PM Etienne Schneider (LSAP) in February announced that he would be resigning from Sistema’s board of directors to which he was appointed in 2020.

Schneider had initially defended his presence on the board, saying it would help protect jobs and Luxembourg interests. East-West United Bank in the grand duchy is owned by Sistema. Another ex-economy minister, Jeannot Krecké, stepped down from his board position at EWUB.  

Following the UK sanctions, Yevtushenkov gave up formal shareholder control of Sistema by transferring a 10% stake to his son, Felix Yevtushenkov. This means his share has decreased to 49.2%.

Trostsenko meanwhile owns investment company Aeon and is funding Arctic mining and infrastructure projects. The coal tycoon is developing the Indiga Seaport located on the Barents Sea, which could become a key transport hub on the Northeast Passage. Putin in January instructed his government to speed up plans for a rail link to the ice-free port.

Gergiev also remains un-sanctioned by the EU.

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