Did a billionaire Russian oligarch land at Wick airport yesterday?
A private jet owned by a powerful Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin landed at Wick airport yesterday (May 20), according to a local flight watcher.
Suleyman Kerimov allegedly owns the Boeing 737 aircraft with registration VP-BBW which flew from Addison Airport in Dallas Texas on Sunday and touched down at Wick John O’Groats Airport today at 9.11am.
The local source, who did not wish to be named, said: “Russian oligarch, Suleyman Kerimov’s private jet just landed at Wick airport.
“He is under sanctions and also acting Russian Federation senator from Dagestan.”
In April 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on Kerimov and 23 other Russian nationals.
According to Wikipedia, Kerimov is one of many Russian oligarchs named in the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, CAATSA, signed into law by former US President Donald Trump in 2017. He was also sanctioned by the UK government on March 15, 2022 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.
The local contact added: “The jet is formally registered on Gama Aviation, a UK Company. However, multiple sources say it is used by Suleyman Kerimov.
“The jet has, according to Flightradar, been stored in Texas since it flew from Shannon to Dallas on May 29, 2023.”
As part of the UK's leading efforts to isolate Putin and those around him due to the ongoing Ukranian war, various oligarchs had their assets in the UK frozen, are banned from travelling here and no British citizen or company may do business with them.
