By When the world is in great turmoil, people are shaken in grasp for a right place to go and be safe. This is evident now a days with this conflict between Russia and Ukraine. If the ordinary citizens are fleeing out of the chaos for their lives, in parallel same as the well off are evading the sanctions made towards Russia.
Russian billionaires have been in the spotlight since Russia and Ukraine war started on February 24. As Joe Biden said his administration would work with European countries to target Russian oligarchs by seizing “their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets.” The destination of fleeing most well off Russian is said to to be the United Arab Emirates. Dubai the amazing place, stretching in the Persian Gulf from the beaches and skyscrapers of Dubai is a man-made archipelago in the shape of a vast palm tree, its branchlike rows of islands lined with luxury hotels, apartments and villas.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), and in particular, the emirate of Dubai, has a reputation for being a playground for the rich, and one that does not ask too many questions about how wealth has been obtained. That looks likely to continue, despite increasing Western pressure to squeeze Russia financially, turning the UAE into an even more attractive proposition for rich Russians seeking a safe haven for their wealth, and undermining the effort to force Russia to pull back from its invasion of Ukraine.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/14/analysis-can-the-uae-be-a-safe-haven-for-russian-oligarchs
As the notes continue: Abu Dhabi has signalled that it is trying to pursue a balancing act between the United States and its European partners on one side, and Russia on the other. The UAE, which was already home to 40,000 Russian nationals before the outbreak of war, abstained from a US-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine, an indication that the UAE is prioritising good ties with Vladimir Putin’s government above catering to Western interests in Ukraine. It has also reportedly assured Russia that it will not enforce sanctions against it unless required to do so by the UN, a scenario that is unlikely considering Russia’s veto on the Security Council.
Putin allies owned at least 76 properties in Dubai, either directly or under the name of a close relative, and probably many more, according to the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a Washington nonprofit that collects data on global conflicts. The owners include a former provincial governor and nuclear power plant manager, a construction magnate and former senator and a Belarusian tobacco tycoon. Six of them have been sanctioned by the U.S. or European Union, and another oligarch facing such measures has a yacht moored there. The oil-rich cosmopolitan resort and financial center in the United Arab Emirates, a close U.S. partner on Middle Eastern security matters, has in recent years become a popular playground for the Russian rich, asking few questions about the sources of foreign money. At least 38 businessmen or officials linked to Russian President Vladimir V. as Putin own dozens of properties in Dubai. https://therealdeal.com/2022/03/13/dubai-welcomes-russian-oligarchs-as-world-turns-its-back/
“Having a Russian passport or Russian money now is very toxic — no one wants to accept you, except places like Dubai,” said a Russian businessman who took refuge there, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of alienating Emirati authorities. “There’s no issue with being a Russian in Dubai.” [New York Times] – Dana Bartholomew
The “Forbes” has noted that the United Kingdom and the European Union imposed sanctions on three more Russian billionaires on March 9 and the U.K. sanctioned Roman Abramovich the next day; more sanctions hit on March 15, bringing the total number of sanctioned Russian billionaires to 23. At least five yachts owned by sanctioned billionaires—Andrey Melnichenko, Alexey Mordashov, Gennady Timchenko, Alisher Usmanov and Viktor Vekselberg—were last tracked in Italy, Germany and Spain. Their personal assets in the European Union, from private jets and superyachts to luxury real estate, may now be frozen. Italian authorities froze Mordashov’s Lady M yacht and Timchenko’s Lena yacht on March 4, a day after German authorities confirmed Usmanov’s Dilbar yacht couldn’t leave a shipyard in Hamburg. On March 12, Italian police froze Melnichenko’s Sailing Yacht A in Trieste. https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2022/03/01/biden-and-allies-are-coming-for-russian-billionaires-yachts-forbes-tracked-down-36-heres-where-to-find-them/?sh=123ef1a64624
Could this great place really be considered a safe haven for this oligarchs? In reality there’s no safe place as one could only consider it a home. The ultimate peace was given freely only by JESUS in which money cannot buy. Either you are rich or small in anyone else’s perspective, the safe haven is where love resides. If only all together will make this world a better place to live which is possible only by love not war. In an event of war the needy or the poor even the unprivileged deserve to be given equal sanctuary and safeguard as the elites do, but, it’s really was not happening….oh it just … if only!
“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” Isaiah 48:22 NIV
iNSPiRATiONALKiN 