A Swedish company allegedly involved in helping members of Russia’s wealthy elite arrange private jet travel to Europe through third-country intermediaries must be investigated by prosecutors, Swedish MEP Jonas Sjöstedt told Guildhall.
According to Sjöstedt, apologies or promises to “look into” such practices are not sufficient if a company has helped Russian elites circumvent EU sanctions. He also said that sanctions violations should be investigated more actively both at the national level and through stronger European cooperation.
— Mr. Sjöstedt, as a follow-up to our previous conversation, could you briefly explain to our readers the case involving the Swedish company Avinode?
— Yes. This is a company called Avinode, and I would say it is one of Europe’s leading companies when it comes to acting as a broker for private jets. Rich people who want to find a private jet can turn to such a company, and it can organize everything for them.
Now, according to investigative reporting by Swedish television, it turns out that Avinode also helped very rich Russians travel to Europe — for vacations, shopping and private jet flights.
According to important sanctions experts, this may constitute a breach of sanctions. What they allegedly did was to use a system where a company is registered in a third country — for example Cyprus, Kazakhstan or Turkey — and then trips for Russian clients are organized through that company. But in reality, this is all for the Russian power elite.
The company was, of course, very embarrassed and promised to look into this and stop doing it. But I do not think that is enough. This has to go to the prosecutor. It has to be investigated, because if this is confirmed, it is a clear breach of sanctions. Swedish companies should not be involved in business like this.
— This is exactly what you mentioned in our previous conversation: if a serious sanctions breach is met only with “we are sorry,” it can encourage other actors to continue doing the same. Has there been any reaction from Swedish prosecutors?
— This only happened a couple of days ago, so I expect the prosecutor’s office to look into it. In Sweden, we view sanctions violations very seriously, and I am sure this will soon be on their table.
If sanctions have been breached, an excuse is not enough. There has to be some kind of penalty.
What I find particularly disturbing is the kind of people being helped here. If you are one of these extremely wealthy Russians, if you can spend hundreds of thousands of euros to go shopping in Milan or skiing in France, then you are loyal to Putin. You cannot be part of the Russian power elite and earn all this money without being part of this deeply corrupt elite system.
That gives you responsibility, and we should not help such people.
What also angers me is the hypocrisy. Many of these people speak badly about the West. They say Russia is great, they despise democracy in the West, and they repeat all kinds of propaganda against Ukraine. Then they go on vacation to Milan, to the beaches of Saint-Tropez, and drink French wine.
If they love Russia so much, why do they not take a private train to Novosibirsk or somewhere else in Russia for vacation?
— Private jets are often used not only for luxury travel, but can also be linked to sensitive logistics or the movement of restricted goods. Does this specific case show a broader problem with the reluctance to launch real prosecutions for sanctions violations across the EU?
— First and foremost, each and every country should look for sanctions breaches and take them to court.
But there is also the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, and I think there should be more European coordination in cases like this. If a Swedish company is helping people connected to sanctions travel to other EU member states, then several EU countries are involved. That is a good basis for a common investigation.
So yes, there should definitely be more European cooperation in bringing these kinds of sanctions breaches to court. But it also has to be the basic job of prosecutors at the national level to act.
Apparently, one of these brokers also offered to take people who were on sanctions lists on these private jets. That would make the matter even more serious.
— Why do you believe the Russian elite should also feel the consequences of the war?
— What also disturbs me about the Russian power elite is that their children will never be sent to the front lines. We know how Russia works. It is mainly people from rural areas, often minorities and poor people, who are sent to the front lines and often do not come back to their families.
Meanwhile, the Russian power elite makes all this money from plundering Russia’s natural resources and takes no risk at all.
That is why it is so important not to give them impunity. They should also feel the consequences of the war. They should not have the possibility to travel freely.
I am also annoyed that they are still often given visas to travel to Western European countries. I get very provoked when I see rich Russian tourists in Western Europe. What are they doing here? They can go back to Russia. We do not need them here.
They are complicit. Russia is killing Ukrainians every day — innocent Ukrainians, people fighting on the front lines for the freedom of their country, people going to school, people going to work. These members of the Russian elite are supporters of the war, otherwise they would not be part of the power elite.
They have nothing to do in Western Europe.
Exclusively for Guildhall.
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