The aircraft are registered in offshore jurisdictions like the Isle of Man and Bermuda that are attempting to make it harder for the oligarchs to keep flying.
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More than three weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western countries are tightening sanctions on Russian oligarchs and billionaires. The latest salvo came on Wednesday, when the British crown dependency of the Isle of Man announced that it had deregistered 18 Russian aircraft since March 3. Forbes found that nine of those aircraft—including Alisher Usmanov’s $350 million Airbus private jet and four helicopters owned by Roman Abramovich—are owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires.
By scouring aircraft registries and publicly available data, Forbes identified at least 12 jets and seven helicopters linked to eight sanctioned Russian billionaires. The aircraft are registered in Aruba, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man and Luxembourg, all of which have implemented EU or U.K. sanctions. Collectively, the 19 aircraft are worth at least $1.2 billion. Spokespersons for the aircraft registries and authorities in Bermuda, Luxembourg and the Isle of Man told Forbes that they are taking action against aircraft owned by sanctioned individuals.
On March 12, Bermuda announced that its aircraft registry had suspended certificates of airworthiness for 740 “Russian operated aircraft,” meaning they can no longer fly. At least one sanctioned billionaire, Viktor Rashnikov, owns a Gulfstream jet registered in Bermuda. A spokesperson for the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority told Forbes that the authority “will conduct an investigation” to determine if Rashnikov owns the aircraft.
On March 18, the U.S. Commerce Department identified Abramovich’s Gulfstream G650 jet—registered in Luxembourg and last seen in Moscow on March 15—as one of 100 aircraft that were in “apparent violation of U.S. export controls.” The press release explains that “any person anywhere—including within Russia—risks violating” the export controls by providing “any form of service” to the aircraft, meaning it’s effectively grounded.
Abramovich is the most exposed to the new measures, with two jets registered in Aruba and another two in Luxembourg, in addition to the four helicopters deregistered in the Isle of Man. Aruba’s Minister of Transport, Ursell Arends, reportedly told local media that at least 10 aircraft registered in Aruba belong to sanctioned Russians and the government will take action against them “if necessary.” Forbes identified six of the 10, including an Airbus A319 jet owned by Viktor Vekselberg. A spokesperson for Vekselberg declined to comment, and representatives for the other billionaires mentioned in this article did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
High-net-worth individuals often own aircraft through offshore holding companies to mask their ownership. “Many owners use offshore entities and special purpose companies to make it difficult to find the “real” user of the aircraft,” said Phil Seymour, president of aviation data firm IBA.
