Grigory Viktorovich BEREZKIN

Chairman of the Board of Directors of ESN Group

Function: Chairman of the Board of Directors, ESN Group

Grigory Berezkin is a leading Russian businessperson and considered to be the ‘henchman’ of President Vladimir Putin. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ESN Group, a Russian private equity group with a portfolio of investments in various industries, including the media, energy, infrastructure, IT, natural resources and petrochemical sectors. ESN Group is one of Russia's largest holding companies. In 2019, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and ESN Group signed an agreement to invest in a project to design, build and operate a methanol plant in the Amur Region, in Russia’s Far East. In 2021, VEB.RF, VTB, ESN Group, the Ministry for Development of the Russian Far East, Marubeni Corporation and Mitsui O.S.K. signed a memorandum of understanding during the Eastern Economic Forum, with the aim of developing a project for the construction of methanol-fuelled vessels by Russian shipbuilders. The ceremony was attended by President Putin. As Chairman of the Board of Directors of ESN Group, Grigory Berezkin is a leading businessperson involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation, which is responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine. Furthermore, he is supporting materially and financially, and benefitting from, the Government of the Russian Federation, which is responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine.

Transport sanctions: where transport sanctions apply, a ship owned, controlled, chartered or operated by a designated person is prohibited from entering a port in the UK, may be given a movement or a port entry direction, can be detained, and will be refused permission to register on the UK Ship Register or have its existing registration terminated. Similarly, an aircraft owned, chartered or operated by a designated person is prohibited from overflying or landing in the UK, may be given a movement direction, can be detained or moved to a specified airport, and will be refused permission to register on the CAA Aircraft Register or have its existing registration terminated. This also includes a prohibition of technical assistance relating to aircraft and ships: a prohibition on the provision of technical assistance relating to aircraft or ships will prevent a person from directly or indirectly providing technical assistance to, or for the benefit of, the designated person, where that technical assistance relates to an aircraft or ship.

Russian businessman