Among those on the growing list of Russian officials and tycoons targeted by American and European sanctions is Yuri V. Kovalchuk, a man so trusted by President Vladimir V. Putin that he has been called one of his “cashiers”.

An associate of Putin’s for more than three decades, Kovalchuk has become one of Russia’s richest and most influential men, leveraging connections with the Russian leader since Putin was a deputy mayor in St Petersburg in the chaotic aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Kovalchuk, 70, has been subject to American and European sanctions since Putin ordered the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Now, the latest designations announced in Washington on Friday expand those to include other parts of his financial empire and members of his family, including his son, Boris.

The effects remain to be seen, but the latest American move seems unlikely to cause a rift between the two men, given how much Kovalchuk and others have relied on Putin’s support to build their fortunes. In an interview in 2014, Kovalchuk said that Russian people and businesses would be willing to sacrifice for Putin’s policies.

“The fact is, people intuitively feel which side of the barricades business stands on,” he said

New York Times News Service