On Monday 11th April in Auckland, Greenpeace will present a petition to Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control, Phil Twyford calling on the New Zealand Government to “freeze oligarch assets” to put pressure on Vladimir Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine.
The presentation will be at the Maritime Museum in The Viaduct alongside the veteran protest yacht SV Vega from where Greenpeace earlier set sail to join the peace flotilla.
Greenpeace Aotearoa programme director Niamh O’Flynn says, “there is now a strong precedent and moral case for the Ardern government to go further than it has with Russian sanctions and freeze Alexander Abromov’s assets in New Zealand.
The UK Government has frozen the assets of Roman Abramovich, including the steel company Evraz Metals, over allegations that Evraz supplied steel for Russian tanks. Alexander Abramov is a business partner in Evraz.
As well as sanctioning Abramovich, the UK government has recently sanctioned the lesser oligarch Eugene Shvidler, who is a “longstanding business partner” of Abramovich, saying that through his shares in the oligarch’s Evraz metals and mining business, he had “been involved in obtaining a benefit from or supporting the government of Russia”.
“As the true horror of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is being revealed, and evidence mounts that the Russian incursion amounts to war crimes, the case for sanctions against all significant Russian interests in Aotearoa is growing painfully clear.
“To make sanctions count, the Ardern Government needs to find the resolve to target the wealthiest Russian oligarch in New Zealand, which means freezing Alexander Abramov’s assets here,” said O’Flynn.
Greenpeace Aotearoa first called on the Government to sanction Russian oligarchs in New Zealand on the 5th of March 2022.
On the 8th of March 2022, Greenpeace announced it would join the Peace Flotilla.
On March 12, Greenpeace released information that links Alexander Abramov to Vladimir Putin.
ENDS
Contact Nick Young: 021-707-727
In the name of peace, call on the New Zealand Government to freeze the assets of Russian billionaire oligarchs to pressure Vladimir Putin to call off the Russian Military invasion of Ukraine.
