London: The daughter of Sergei Lavrov’s alleged mistress should be among the family members of Vladimir Putin’s associates targeted with sanctions, MPs and campaigners have said.
The Russian foreign minister’s “second family”, including Svetlana Polyakova, his alleged mistress, and Polina Kovaleva, her 26-year-old daughter, were identified as among those officials should look at, the Daily Telegraph reported.
As Roman Abramovich was added to the sanction list on Thursday, MPs questioned why the government’s list was still dwarfed by the hundreds of individuals and entities sanctioned by the EU and the US.
Layla Moran MP, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for foreign affairs and international development, told the Daily Telegraph: “The government is still way behind the EU and the US. The legislation hasn’t passed yet, so if they can act against Abramovich now, why not the others?”
Maria Pevchikh, the head of investigations at Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, named members of Lavrov’s family including Polyakova and Kovaleva, who owns a flat in Kensington, west London, as those who should have their assets frozen, the Telegraph reported. Her calls were backed by MP Chris Bryant,
Polyakova, an actor and restaurateur, is reported to have been in a relationship with Lavrov since the early 2000s and documents unearthed by the foundation show she has been abroad with the foreign minister more than 60 times, including on diplomatic missions.
Her family’s lifestyle and growing multi-million-pound property portfolio is alleged to have been bankrolled by her lover. Kovaleva’s now-deleted Instagram account shows her relaxing on a yacht owned by Deripaska. Polina Kovaleva is a 26-year-old Russian based in London. She studied at a private boarding school in Bristol. Polina studied economics at the undergraduate level and went on to achieve an MSc in economics and strategy for business at the Imperial College Business School.
According to an interview on the university’s website, she previously worked at Gazprom in its mergers and acquisitions division.
The interview states she also completed a marketing internship in summer 2015 and interned in the risk management department of a multinational mining company.
According to Land Registry documents Polina lives in a Kensington flat that was bought for £4.4 million with no mortgage in 2016 when she was 21.
The apartment is part of an award-winning complex that offers views to Holland Park, a swimming pool, gym, spa and home cinema. The Mirror reports Polina shares the property with a man it believes is her partner.
Polina’s mother is Svetlana Polyakova. As reported by The Times and according to FBK, a non-profit organisation founded by activist Alexei Navalny, Svetlana lives in a Moscow apartment worth £5 million.
FBK claims Polyakova, an actor and restaurateur, had been in a relationship with Lavrov since the early 2000s.
The organisation claimed it had unearthed documents that revealed she has been abroad with the foreign minister more than 60 times, including on diplomatic missions.