France Freezes 31 Luxury Properties Owned By Eight Sanctioned Russian Billionaires
Roman Abramovich’s Château de la Croë in Antibes, France.
Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
The frozen properties, worth nearly $1 billion, include Roman Abramovich’s château on the French Riviera and his estate in St. Barts.
On Wednesday, French authorities published a list of 41 properties owned by sanctioned Russian individuals that had been frozen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, worth nearly $620 million. Forbes found that 31 of those properties are owned by eight sanctioned Russian billionaires, including Roman Abramovich’s $250 million Château de la Croë in Antibes on the French Riviera and his $90 million estate on the luxe Caribbean island of St. Barts.
Forbes estimates the 31 billionaire-owned properties are worth $920 million—higher than the French government’s estimate—based on reporting for the World’s Billionaires List and historical purchase prices. Now that the properties have been frozen, they can’t be sold or rented—and since the sanctions on these billionaires include a travel ban, they can’t physically travel to them anymore either.
Many of these luxury homes were already known to be owned by sanctioned oligarchs, but some had not been previously reported. According to French corporate and land records, steel mogul Viktor Rashnikov owns several apartments at 24 Avenue Gabriel in central Paris, across the street from the French presidential residence at the Élysee Palace. Abramovich’s ex-wife Irina owns a property in the same building, but hers was not among the frozen properties. Another sanctioned billionaire, Alexei Kuzmichev, owns several apartments at Rue de Solférino, along the Seine and across the river from the Tuileries Gardens.
Most of the frozen properties are owned through French companies named sociétés civiles immobilières, or SCI, a type of company formed solely to own real estate. Aside from the Paris apartments, Abramovich’s estate on St. Barts and a hotel in the Alpine ski town of Méribel owned by oil & gas mogul Gennady Timchenko, all of the other luxury homes are on the French Riviera. Several, including Abramovich’s Château de la Croë, are on a stretch of coast in Antibes known as the Bay of Billionaires—an apt name, considering the number of Russian billionaires who own real estate there.
For more information on the foreign real estate owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires, read our in-depth tracker here:
Here are the French properties owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires that have been frozen:
Estimated value of frozen properties: $340 million
Abramovich owns the 32,000-square-foot Château de la Croë in Cap d’Antibes on the French Riviera, an estate built on more than 17 acres of land with 12 bedrooms and a swan-shaped bathtub, formerly owned by King Edward VIII of Great Britain. Three addresses tied to the château were included in the list of frozen properties.
In the French Caribbean island of St. Barts, Abramovich owns the 70-acre Gouverneur estate on Governor Beach, which features Balinese bungalows and several tennis courts and swimming pools. He may also own other properties on St. Barts. A property called Le Lurin was also frozen by French authorities. A local source told Forbes that Abramovich owns another home by the port of Gustavia, the capital, a short drive away from Gouverneur. The source said that the property appears to have been abandoned mid-construction.
Estimated value of frozen properties: $57 million
Kuzmichev owns La Petite Ourse villa in the exclusive seaside town of St. Tropez on the French Riviera. He owns the villa—which was reportedly purchased for $57 million—through SCI Le Cedre Rouge, according to French corporate records. The home shares a name with two of Kuzmichev’s yachts—the 79-foot La Petite Ourse and the 54-foot La Petite Ourse II—which were frozen by French authorities on March 16 and March 21, respectively.
Forbes found that Kuzmichev also owns three properties in a large residential building at 2 and 4 Rue de Solférino and 9 and 11 Quai Anatole in central Paris, all of which were frozen by French authorities. He owns them through four SCIs, according to French corporate records: RCS Holding 1, RCS Holding 2, RCS Holding 3 and QAF RDS Holding.
Estimated value of frozen properties: $80 million
Melnichenko owns Villa Altair in Cap d’Antibes, France, replete with a home theater, wine cellar, sauna, and a swimming pool. He owns the villa through a French real estate firm, Pershore Comercio International S.a.r.l., which is in turn wholly owned by Melnichenko’s Luxembourg-based firm Jalinon Investments S.a.r.l. Three properties owned by Pershore at the site of Villa Altair were frozen by French authorities.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Melnichenko called the EU sanctions against him “absurd and nonsensical” and added that they will be disputed.
Estimated value of frozen properties: $6 million
Moshkovich owns a villa on nearly 10 acres of land at 56 Boulevard Princesse Grâce de Monaco in Nice on the French Riviera, which he reportedly purchased for $3.6 million in 1998. He owns the now-frozen home through Prosperite SCI, according to French corporate records.
Estimated value of frozen properties: $176 million
Ponomarenko owns two large villas on 170,000 square feet of land at 8 Chemin de St Hospice in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera. In 2015, he sold them to a French company named SCI La Chabanne Project, according to an investigation by Russian media outlet IStories. Ponomarenko’s partner Natalia Rozhkova owns 95{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} of SCI La Chabanne Project and Ponomarenko is a director at the firm, per French corporate records. A spokesperson for Ponomarenko told IStories in October 2021 that he acquired the property for about $134 million in 2008.
Estimated value of frozen properties: $200 million
Through his daughter, Olga, Rashnikov owns the 16-room Villa Nellcôte mansion in Villefranche-sur-Mer on the French Riviera. Olga owns 94{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} of SCI Nellcote Baie de Villefranche and SCI Baie des Figuiers, the companies that own the property, and Rashnikov is also a director at both firms, per French property records. Three properties owned by SCI Nellcote Baie de Villefranche and SCI Baie des Figuiers at the site of Villa Nellcôte were frozen by French authorities.
Built in the 1890s, the Belle Époque villa features a swimming pool and crystal chandeliers and has had some notable residents: it was occupied by the Gestapo during the Nazi occupation of France in the 1940s and was rented by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones in 1971.
Forbes found that Rashnikov also owns three properties at 24 Avenue Gabriel in central Paris, all of which were frozen by French authorities. He owns the apartments, located directly across the street from the Élysee Palace—currently occupied by French President Emmanuel Macron—through SCI Parc Gabriel, per French corporate records. Abramovich’s ex-wife Irina Malandina owns an apartment in the same building worth $17.5 million, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Project’s Russian Asset Tracker project, which Forbes is participating in.
Estimated value of frozen properties: $62 million
Vladimir Putin’s childhood friend and former judo sparring partner Arkady Rotenberg owns Villa Shoshana, a 97,000-square-foot estate in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera. He owns the property through SCI Villa Shoshana and Luxembourg-based Lucasnel SA, according to Luxembourg and French corporate records. He purchased the property for $47 million in 2014.
Estimated value of frozen properties: Unknown
Timchenko’s wife Elena—who was sanctioned by the EU on April 8—owns two properties at Avenue du Cap Nègre in Le Lavandou on the French Riviera. She owns the homes through her 55{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} stake in Luxembourg-based Coeur de Cavaliere S.A., according to the Luxembourg Business Register. Timchenko’s daughter, Ksenia Frank-Timchenko, owns a French company named Arles which owns another two properties at Avenue du Cap Nègre, both of which were also frozen.
The homes owned by Elena and Ksenia are across the street from Le Club de Cavalière, a 5-star hotel and spa with its own private beach which Elena owns through her 61.9{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} stake in French firm Sogeco, according to French corporate records. Sogeco also owns Le Grand Coeur, a 4-star hotel and spa in the Alpine ski resort of Méribel. Both hotels were included in the list of frozen properties.
