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The United States on Wednesday lifted sanctions on Karina Rotenberg, the wife of Russian billionaire and close Putin associate Boris Rotenberg.
Karina Yurievna Rotenberg was removed from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Leaked documents indicate that Karina Rotenberg, who married Boris Rotenberg in 2009, has been a U.S. citizen since at least 2013. She was added to the U.S. sanctions list in March 2022.
Despite the European Union sanctions imposed on her husband following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she has continued to travel internationally.
Last summer, according to the independent Russian news outlet SVTV, she posted Instagram videos from an exclusive resort in southeastern France, where she was seen practicing Pilates at a studio in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.
Karina Rotenberg heads the Moscow Equestrian Federation and she and her husband continue to maintain elite stables in Europe, according to the independent news outlet Vyorstka. Databases from the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) and the Russian Equestrian Federation (FKSR) show that the Rotenbergs own at least 24 horses, some valued at up to 900,000 euros.
Before 2022, Karina Rotenberg financially supported her husband through loans issued by foreign branches of Russian banks, according to the investigative news outlet IStories and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
Leaked documents obtained by IStories and the OCCRP show that an offshore company registered to Boris Rotenberg’s former bodyguard deposited 2 million euros in the Cyprus branch of Promsvyazbank, which then issued a loan of the same amount to Karina Rotenberg using that deposit as collateral.
The documents further reveal that Karina Rotenberg owns half of her husband’s Western real estate holdings. She holds a share in a 30-hectare estate in Mouans-Sartoux, 50 kilometers from Monaco, which was valued at 17 million euros in 2014. The couple’s total assets in Monaco and France exceed 60 million euros.
Meanwhile, the U.S. on Wednesday expanded its sanctions list to include several Russian individuals and entities, including Yuri Belyakov, Vyacheslav Vidanov, and the companies Edison, Kolibri Group and Sky Frame. Sanctions were also imposed on the Russian-flagged bulk carrier AM Theseus.
Separately, the EU lifted sanctions on Dmitry Pumpyansky, the billionaire founder of the Pipe Metallurgical Company, as well as on his wife and son. The EU had first imposed sanctions on the family three years ago.
