United Kingdom - eldorado for the russian rich
It’s a well known fact within business circles that russians mainly go for business in London while they rest in France in their luxury houses of the Côte d’azur or in Courchevel, where they make up to 90% of clients.
20 years ago, they were very few russians in the UK. In 2008, they are about 300 000 with 250 000 in London according to recent estimates. More than 100 000 of them settled in the last five years.
Amongst them, dissidents, business men, artists, looking for oppotunities and/or artistic or political freedom, which they lack in Russia. The most famous of them are Roman Abramovitch and Boris Berezovsky. One bought Chelsea football Club in 2005. The other, after repeated attacks against Poutine’s gouvernment caused Russia’s partial boycott of London Economic Forum in 2007 where several key russian speakers refused to attend on Kremlin’s request.
The English take a risk refusing demands of extradition of researched dissidents from the Russian Federation. Amongst these, Boris Berezovsky is the most mediatic.
Is the game worth it ? Today, London succeded at attracting the wealthiest from Russia to an extent where more than a half of above 20 million dollars properties are sold to russians. The russians on their side are convinced that local authorities would protect them against extradition demands from their mother land’s gouvernment.
By the way, London lately received the new nicknames “Londongrad” and “Moscow on the Thames”, following the presence of russian investors who inject “millions of dollars cash” in the capital.
The British know how to look after the rich. Russians find in Brittain a good package to protect their capital, to do business and educate their children. The convenients conditions for business developpement and attractive tax rates make a good place for strangers having assets offshore. More over, the UK offers a wide range of luxury goods and services, adapted to the tastes of the newcomers.
Article écrit par Thomas BEGUIN
Written by Thomas BEGUIN on April 20th, 2008 with
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