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Robert Jenrick Accepted £25,000 Donation from Firm Controlled by Sanctioned Oligarch

The Conservative leadership candidate received the money from a company controlled by billionaire Sir Len Blavatnik – who has been sanctioned by the Ukrainian government

Conservative MP, and party leadership hopeful, Robert Jenrick. Photo: PA Images / Alamy

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Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick’s campaign funding is under renewed scrutiny today after Byline Times revealed that the MP accepted a £25,000 donation from a company owned by an oligarch who has been sanctioned by Ukraine.

Len Blavatnik, who owns Access Industries (UK) Ltd, is reported to be worth $30 billion according to Forbes and was sanctioned by the Ukrainian Government on 23 December 2023.

Jenrick, who has repeatedly highlighted his support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia during his campaign to lead the Conservative party, saying the UK should “stand shoulder to shoulder” with the country, accepted the donation on 26 September 2024, but details were only disclosed by the House of Parliament on Wednesday. 

Len Blavatnik was sanctioned by the Ukrainian government on 23 December 2023 in response to Russia’s invasion. Photo: Supplied

The £25,000 contribution from the oligarch’s company follows a £1.25 million donation made by Access Industries to the Conservative Party coffers in May 2024, in the run up to the General Election. 

The Conservative Party and its senior figures have continued to accept huge sums from Access Industries, despite the sanctions imposed by the Ukrainian Government and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

When the Mirror published details of the £1.25 million donation a Liberal Democrat spokesperson told the publication: The Conservative Party clearly have serious questions to answer over these donations.”

Jenrick’s £25,000 donation from Access Industries (UK) Limited on 26 September 2024. Photo: Supplied

Jenrick’s ties to Blavatnik don’t end with the £25,000 donation from Access. It was reported last week that his wife Michal Berkner, a successful corporate lawyer, previously advised a company linked to Blavatnik and three sanctioned Russian, billionaire oligarchs in 2013.

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According to reports, Berkner advised Alfa Group, part of Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR), “a consortium of four billionaires” who have all now been sanctioned by either the United Kingdom or the Ukrainian government. The consortium included oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Viktor Vekselberg and German Khan sanctioned in the UK in 2022, and Blavatnik. 

Alfa Group was controlled by Fridman, a controversial billionaire with a reported net worth of $13 billion and owner of a $100 million estate in London. Blavatnik’s Access was advised by other legal representatives. 

Berkner advised Alpha during AAR’s $56 billion sale of Moscow-based oil company TNK-BP to the Russian state-controlled fossil fuel company Rosneft. TNK-BP was a strategic partnership between Blavatnik’s AAR and BP, which held oil assets in the region. According to reports, Blavatnik saw his fortune rise by $1.5 billion following the 2013 deal. 

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The MP reported a donation from a company that appears to be inactive in the UK – which his team has now told Byline Times was a mistake

Last Month, Byline Times reported that Conservative leadership frontrunner Jenrick has raised the most cash in the party leadership race so far, bringing in over £200,000 from funders since July. 

The former immigration minister is currently considered to be in second place in the leadership contest, behind fellow MP Kemi Badenoch, who narrowly led the final vote by Conservative MPs.

Jenrick has previously faced a major donation scandal after insisting a planning application from a party donor should be pushed through – a move that saved the donor’s company a reported £45 million.

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Other questionable donations to Jenrick, revealed by Byline Times, include £70,000 received from Quantum Pacific Corporation.

The corporation is owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer, who Jenrick described as a “family friend” in 2020 and who he controversially met in 2018 while assessing a scheme that posed a threat to Ofer’s business.

Jenrick spoke out against suspending arms to Israel earlier this year, just days after accepting a donation from Ofer, who is the owner of a firm which ships arms to Israel.

Jenrick and Access Industries did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.


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