Putin’s ex-wife racing against the clock to sell Marbella properties as EU sanctions loom

THE former wife of Russian president Vladimir Putin is ‘urgently’ selling two luxury Costa del Sol apartments in a bid to dodge EU sanctions coming down on her property empire.

Lyudmila Ocheretnaya’s two residential complexes, located on Marbella’s Golden Mile in the Lomas del Rey development, have been put on the market for a combined €2.2 million.

Each boasting breathtaking sea views, 25 square kilometres of shared landscaped gardens and just 800 metres from the beach, they also enjoy 24/7 security surveillance befitting the ex-wife of the rumoured richest man in the world.

The properties owned by the Ocheretnys were purchased by Lyudmila’s current husband Artur Ocheretny, in 2011 and 2014 prior to their marriage in 2015 and were bought using mortgage loans from a Spanish bank.

The couple also own a luxury apartment in Davos, Switzerland worth €3.7 million and an art deco villa in Biarritz reported to be worth €6 million – far more than her family’s legal income.

She was sanctioned by the UK in May last year but has yet to be added to Brussel’s list, although the move is thought to be imminent. Calls have been made by the Ukrainian government and Alexei Navalny, Putin’s political rival, to put the former first lady onto the EU sanctions list.

Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, formerly Lyudmila Putina, divorced Putin in 2013 and is the mother of his two oldest daughters.

There has also been speculation that the former first lady has received financial support from Putin over the years and is said to lead a lavish lifestyle not dissimilar to that of a Russian oligarch.

The UK said that Ocheretnaya had benefited from preferential business relationships with Russian state-owned entities when imposing sanctions on her.

Currently properties worth more than €500,000 allow foreigners the right to seek residence permits in Spain, which for the initial year are temporary before becoming permanent thereafter.

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