Petr Aven, a Russian oligarch, has had £1 million of his frozen assets unlocked and was granted living expenses of £60,000 a month by the British authorities to maintain his luxury lifestyle, as per the Telegraph.
The Treasury has authorised the release of the living allowance, plus a one off £388,000 payment to settle “pressing debts”. These include fees to keep one of his children at a private school in the UK for the following summer term.
Aven was sanctioned by the EU and the UK in late February. The UK authorities described him as “a prominent Russian businessman and pro-Kremlin oligarch… involved in supporting the government of Russia” and being “associated with Putin”. In an interview for The Financial Times he complained about his challenges: “Will l be allowed to have a cleaner, or a driver? I don’t drive a car . . . maybe my stepdaughter will drive. We don’t understand how to survive,” he said.