The family Ocheritnyh, Arthur and Lyudmila (former wife of Russian President Vladimir Putin), urgently sell two apartments in the luxury residential complex Lomas del Rey, located in the resort town of Marbella in southern Spain. This was reported on Wednesday, February 15, a number of Spanish media, citing its own investigation and materials Politico.
According to close to the Spanish government, the Sixth TV channel, the newspaper Mundo, an Internet portal Confidencial and other publications, the reason for the sale is the "fear of falling under the European Union sanctions," which provide for the arrest of the property. Hundreds of Russians close to the Kremlin are already under the restrictions imposed in connection with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
By the blue sea
The usually well-informed newspaper Español and the portal Confidencial write that real estate in Spain was purchased by Ocheretny in 2011 and in 2014, shortly before his marriage to Lyudmila, and registered in his name. It is about located on the so-called "Golden Mile" of Marbella, one of the most expensive resorts in the Mediterranean, two apartments of 229 and 405 square meters and a total cost of 2.2 million euros. To pay for the purchase Arthur Ocheretny received a mortgage loan from a Spanish bank, said Español.
However, Español, as well as the newspaper 20 minutos and portal Confidencial believe that Ocheretny, who is head of the Center for the Development of Interpersonal Communication in Moscow, does not have their own funds to purchase expensive foreign property. According to the media, the money for apartments in Spain, as well as other properties worth millions of euros, which, according to the publications, Ocheretny has in France and Switzerland, belonged to Lyudmila, the former wife of the Russian president.
The ex-first lady's well-founded fears
Confidencial notes that the Ocheretny couple is already under British sanctions and that the Ukrainian government, Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and some other organizations are seeking to add her to the EU sanctions list. Their main argument, the newspaper points out, is the belief that "the value of the real estate acquired by the Ocheretny far exceeds the family's legal income" and that these investments "may have an unclear origin.