For many years, Russian oligarchs enjoyed life in Italy, Germany, France, Great
Britain, and other countries of Western Europe. The money stolen from the peoplewent for villas, vineyards, huge mansions in the middle of London and much more.The life of the oligarchs resembled the luxurious times of the monarchs of thecentury before last. With the outbreak of war in Ukraine, there was a briefperiod when it seemed that the Russian oligarchs were approaching the abyss. Hereand there came news of the seizure of the property of Putin's friends. But thewave of enthusiasm from European politicians quickly faded. Yes, 46 of the 200richest Russians have been put on the sanctions lists, but these are in turn 154rich people who continue to enjoy their privileges while the Ukrainian people arefighting Putin's ghouls.Why is this happening? After all, European politicians have been so heroicallywilling to fight the influence of Russian capital. Many loud but empty speecheslater we are in a situation where even the sanctioned individuals have not lostmuch since the war began. Did the oligarchs turn out to be such cunningcapitalists that they were able to deceive Western nations?Hardly.How to avoid sanctions?The fact is that the sanctions situation is not new to many Belarusians. Back in2020 and 2021, when European politicians were screaming about crushing sanctionsagainst Lukashenko, many supporters of the dictator were able to avoid seriousconsequences by simple formalities. Rewrite the ownership of this or thatproperty to a third person and it suddenly becomes invisible to the entire statesystem.Or so it looks at first glance. German, British or French bureaucrats are not sostupid as not to understand where and why the capital of this or that rich manhas gone. Try the same tax avoidance scheme on a relatively small scale and youare likely to have problems pretty quickly.The bottom line is that contrary to political statements, European politiciansare not interested in a complete break-up of the oligarchs. And this has to dowith capitalism itself, which has long been determining the direction ofpolitical development in this or that country in the West. The logic is quitesimple: in addition to Russian capital in Europe there are enough dubiousproperty owners, whose money is often covered with a thick layer of blood. Nomatter what part of the world we are talking about - Eastern Europe, regions ofAfrica or Asia, South America - capitalists and dictators love the luxury ofLondon, Paris or Barcelona.So, if the European political elites suddenly turn on their conscience and reallyseize large amounts of property from the Russian oligarchs, the sheikhs in theArab Emirates or the capitalist communists in China will feel threatened andstart withdrawing this very capital. For capitalism, this dynamic is extremelydangerous, because it can lead to serious market consequences. So we findourselves in a situation where one can symbolically confiscate some of theproperty of the oligarchs and turn a blind eye to most of the property held byobscure firms or friends and acquaintances.One can be outraged by this state of affairs for a long time, but the situationwith the rich in Europe has existed for years. And moreover, the Europeanpoliticians create conditions for attraction of such dirty capital. It ispossible to launder money in London for foreign capital with just one transfer,and property can be bought without a real name(https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/london-real-estate-oligarchs-1.4591729). InGermany, local authorities refuse to provide property lists of Russian oligarchsciting the inability to provide such information for technical reasons - the samereasons that have made Germany one of the most attractive countries for propertyownership by the super-rich.It is also interesting that the EU is willing to spend billions to combatso-called illegal migration, build huge fences against refugees, and invest insurveillance systems on ordinary citizens, but when it comes to the property ofthe super-rich, the state apparatus has no resources or time to collect thisinformation.Shall we seize everything and divide it all?Fortunately, there are journalists who are willing to dig up information aboutRussian property without government funding. Lists of mansions, yachts, and otherproperty are updated every day. It would seem, look at the lists and takeeverything these same journalists have found. But politicians are in no hurry toact, including for the reasons mentioned above.Grassroots activists are being mobilized to fight the oligarchs instead ofpoliticians. In Germany, Austria, and Great Britain, local anarchists have begunseizing the property of Russian oligarchs in order to use it for grassrootsprojects. From housing Ukrainian refugees to creating neighborhood socialcenters. And such seizures have found widespread support in society...In turn, the state has given its assessment of such an initiative by forciblyevicting the anarchists and criminal prosecutions. This shows that theauthorities of Western countries are not only not ready to seize the property ofthese very oligarchs, but moreover, they are ready to protect it with the help ofthe notorious state right to violence.This is quite a clear message for society, which, on the one hand, continues tobe fed the successful history of supporting the Ukrainian people in the war withRussia, but, on the other hand, behind closed doors is trying to maintain thevery status quo that led to the war.And as long as the capital of the oligarchs and politicians responsible for thiswar is protected not only by Putin, but also by the European political system, wecannot really expect any serious political change. Eastern Europe suffers notonly from Putin, but from all his friends and allies. It is not Putin who isfighting this war, but the entire political and economic elite of the RussianFederation. And only with the collapse of the whole system will the empire itselffall.https://pramen.io/en/2022/08/the-sacred-right-of-property/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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