Thursday, March 03, 2022
Tory association with Russian oligarchs continues to haunt them
Throughout the current crisis with Ukraine, Boris Johnosn and his party have not been able to shake off their own associations with Russian Oligarchs. The issue is the huge amounts of money that has found its way into Tory party coffers over the last decade or so.
The Prime Minister has even played tennis with the wife of a former Russian minister after she donated £160,000 to the Conservative party and, in total, it has been alleged that the Tories have accepted £800,000 from "oligarchs and their associates".
Now the Mirror reports that Tories pocketed almost £80,000 in donations from a Russian-born banker whose husband is a former Vladimir Putin minister just months before the invasion of Ukraine:
Lubov Chernukhin, whose husband Vladimir served as deputy finance minister to President Putin before coming to the UK, made two donations of £13,750 in October and £66,500 in December last year.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Ms Chernukhin, who is a British citizen and has been legally entitled to make political donations since 2012.
The Mirror understands the first payment was for a table at the party’s notorious Black and White Ball fundraiser, where wealthy benefactors can rub shoulders with senior ministers and MPs while Boris Johnson rattles his donation tin to bolster party coffers.
The second donation is understood to be a successful bid in the event’s auction, where the party sells access to cabinet ministers to the highest bidder.
Ms Chernukhin has repeatedly paid for access to successive Prime Ministers ministers in the auction, including a cosy night out with Theresa May and a tennis match with Boris Johnson.
Last year's event saw an hour playing cricket with Rishi Sunak sold for £35,000 - while a karaoke session with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss raised £22,000, though it’s not currently known what Ms Chernukhin’s cash bought her.
In total Ms Chernukhin has given almost £2 million to the party - and is the biggest female political donor in British history.
The £80,000 brings her total donations to the central party and individual Tory MPs for 2021 to £155,225.
As the paper points out, although Vladimir Chernukhin served as Mr Putin's deputy finance minister in the early 2000s, the Conservative Party says he had since fallen out of favour with the President. The amount of money going into their coffers from Russians though, is not a good look in the current circumstances.
The Prime Minister has even played tennis with the wife of a former Russian minister after she donated £160,000 to the Conservative party and, in total, it has been alleged that the Tories have accepted £800,000 from "oligarchs and their associates".
Now the Mirror reports that Tories pocketed almost £80,000 in donations from a Russian-born banker whose husband is a former Vladimir Putin minister just months before the invasion of Ukraine:
Lubov Chernukhin, whose husband Vladimir served as deputy finance minister to President Putin before coming to the UK, made two donations of £13,750 in October and £66,500 in December last year.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Ms Chernukhin, who is a British citizen and has been legally entitled to make political donations since 2012.
The Mirror understands the first payment was for a table at the party’s notorious Black and White Ball fundraiser, where wealthy benefactors can rub shoulders with senior ministers and MPs while Boris Johnson rattles his donation tin to bolster party coffers.
The second donation is understood to be a successful bid in the event’s auction, where the party sells access to cabinet ministers to the highest bidder.
Ms Chernukhin has repeatedly paid for access to successive Prime Ministers ministers in the auction, including a cosy night out with Theresa May and a tennis match with Boris Johnson.
Last year's event saw an hour playing cricket with Rishi Sunak sold for £35,000 - while a karaoke session with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss raised £22,000, though it’s not currently known what Ms Chernukhin’s cash bought her.
In total Ms Chernukhin has given almost £2 million to the party - and is the biggest female political donor in British history.
The £80,000 brings her total donations to the central party and individual Tory MPs for 2021 to £155,225.
As the paper points out, although Vladimir Chernukhin served as Mr Putin's deputy finance minister in the early 2000s, the Conservative Party says he had since fallen out of favour with the President. The amount of money going into their coffers from Russians though, is not a good look in the current circumstances.
