Another concerned neighbor said that shards of glass and pieces of debris had fallen off the buildings onto their property. They were particularly worried about damage to the structures from rain, as many of the windows are smashed, allowing water to get in easily.
The residents’ local MP is, serendipitously, Westminster’s biggest anti-corruption champion. Joe Powell wrote to Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty on April 28, urging the government to take action on the “urgent need to manage any unintended consequences of sanctions, particularly in the property sector.”
“As time goes on, we’re going to increasingly have a situation where we’ve got buildings that are in neglect,” Powell said.
Davidovich bought the premises when they were already in a sorry state — and was granted permission to turn them into luxury apartments (he was ultimately unable to do so, however, after being sanctioned). But as time goes on, assuming Russian oligarchs remain sanctioned, many other dwellings will start to crumble, their dilapidated appearance an unintended consequence of a well-intentioned policy.
No entry
Once a property is sanctioned, its owner can do nothing to increase its value. While paying for upkeep is technically possible, the process is slow and complicated, according to lawyers POLITICO spoke with. To maintain the estate, sanctioned oligarchs need to apply for a general license from the Treasury’s sanctions watchdog, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).
“They are overwhelmed at the moment, as you can imagine, since the Russian war started,” Angeilka Hellwegger, a sanctions lawyer at Rahman Ravelli, said of the office. “So this means if you have a licensing application, for example if you want to repair a window, it takes them a lot of time to actually get this done.”
