A Russian court has ordered the seizure of a luxury hotel complex owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, one of the few oligarchs to have criticised President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, a sign of the pressure facing the country’s tycoons since the invasion.
The legal dispute, following an initial claim brought by a science and educational hub under Putin’s patronage, predates the invasion and is not ostensibly linked to Deripaska’s guarded criticism of the war, which he has called “madness”.
But the court order to seize the $1bn Imeretinskiy hotel complex and marina in Sochi came after the Kremlin asked Deripaska to stop criticising the war, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Deripaska has been under US sanctions since 2018 over his links to the Kremlin. The metals tycoon is the most prominent of the small number of Russian business leaders who have spoken out since February’s invasion. “We need peace as soon as possible, as we have already passed the point of no return,” he wrote on Twitter in March.
Many oligarchs privately oppose the war, though few have made public comments. Several have told the Financial Times that they are afraid to disagree publicly with the Kremlin, citing fears of repercussions for them and their businesses.
Yet in June, Deripaska warned that “destroying Ukraine would be a colossal mistake”, even as he shied away from criticising Putin personally.