According to a media report, two billionaires close to the Kremlin continue to do good business in Latvia, despite the sanctions imposed by the EU on the Russian elite.
“Riga’s companies control them both personally and through stooges,” the independent internet portal “The Insider” reported Thursday. According to the report, these are the billionaires Iskander Makhmudov (58) and Andrei Bokarev (56), who equip the Russian army, among others.
Company receives EU funding
In Latvia, the two own, among other things, the mechanical engineering factory in Riga, which makes electronic systems for trains, metros and local public transport and receives EU subsidies. In Russia, on the other hand, they are partners in large coal and industrial companies such as UGMK or Transmaschholding.
Until 2017, Bokarev and Makhmudov also owned shares in the Kalashnikov defense company. According to “The Insider,” they are still equipping Russian warships with diesel engines.
Be “no danger”
Both oligarchs have been sanctioned by Britain because of their good relations with the Kremlin. But “Latvian authorities see no threat to national security in Bokarev and Makhmudov,” writes The Insider.
In Riga, the independent Russian television station Doschd, which had made a name for itself through public criticism of the Kremlin and Russia’s war on Ukraine, had its broadcasting license revoked because of its coverage of the war in Ukraine.
The reason for this was a post about people who were forced to mobilize at the front, in which the moderator gave the impression that he was collecting aid for Russian soldiers. The media regulator assessed this as a “threat to national security”. (SDA/euc)