Mr. [and Mrs.] Blavatnik later turned from a Clinton donor to a Trump supporter, just to make a safe bet.

The Billionaire's Playlist | The New Yorker - Jan. 20, 2014 |

In September, 2010, Andrew Hamilton, the vice-chancellor of Oxford University, stood before a crowd of dignitaries and announced, "Leonard Blavatnik is a man who has truly lived the American Dream." Hamilton was presiding over a ceremony to launch the new Blavatnik School of Government, and to celebrate its namesake, who had pledged a hundred and seventeen million dollars to finance its construction.

Hamilton's speech gave the barest elements of an up-by-the-bootstraps story: Columbia University, Harvard Business School, the founding of a "highly successful industrial group." He didn't mention that Blavatnik, who was born in Ukraine, had made his fortune in the tumultuous privatization of aluminum and oil that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Blavatnik now lives mostly in London and New York, and his public-relations people strenuously object when he is called an oligarch. In a press release, Oxford described his gift as "one of the most generous in the University's 900-year history" and dutifully referred to him as an "American industrialist and philanthropist."  

As a major donor to the rightwing Hudson Institute, oligarch Blavatnik had gone unnoticed ...

Right-wing anti-Kleptocracy think tank turned over by revelation of oligarch donor | Salon - Dec. 7, 2018 |

The founder and executive director of the Hudson Institute's Kleptocracy Initiative has resigned after learning that it accepted a donation from a Ukrainian-born billionaire who he considers to be an oligarch.

"Russian kleptocracy has entered the donor pool of Hudson Institute," Charles Davidson said in an exclusive interview with The New York Post. "Blavatnik is precisely what the Kleptocracy Initiative is fighting against -- the influence of Putin's oligarchs on America's political system and society -- and the importation of corrupt Russian business practices and values."

The Treasury now has a playbook for imposing sanctions on a person with vast holdings and then negotiating that person's exit from the holdings while minimizing the effects of sanctions on those holdings. (_link)

— Kleptocracy Initiative (@KleptocracyIntv) December 22, 2018

Meeting the needs of our US/UK or Jewish State of Israel based friendly oligarchs ...

"The Russian-Jewish billionaire Oleg Deripaska is examining investment opportunities in Israel. Deripaska, 36, one of the youngest billionaires in the world, arrived in his private jet last Thursday [Haaretz - March 25, 2004] for a quick visit to Tel Aviv, accompanied by his friend Lord Nathaniel Rothschild of London."

It's in the family - my diary on Golan Heights Oil - Jacob Rothschild and Dick Cheney.

Experts Point to Longstanding Policy in EN+, Rusal Sanctions Removal Plan | WSJ - Dec. 21, 2018 |

The planned removal of sanctions on companies tied to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska follows longstanding policy and isn't reflective of a quid pro quo between the Trump administration and leaders in Moscow, analysts and observers say.

Sanctions on EN+ Group PLC, United Co. Rusal PLC and JSC EuroSibEnergo are set to be removed in mid-January after the companies implement a deal with the U.S. Treasury Department, announced Wednesday, that cuts Mr. Deripaska's stake in the companies, severs his control and prevents him from benefiting from future dividends the companies issue.

Critics seized on the announcement to suggest President Trump was seeking to curry favor with Russian elites close to the Kremlin. But sanctions experts say the removals show the opposite, and that wealthy oligarchs should be fearful of the U.S. sanctions program.

○ Mueller Team Stopped Russian Oligarch-Swiss Industrialist-Major Bank of Cyprus Shareholder For Questioning

'Sapere aude'