logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2024
26m 32s

Putin’s nemesis in the west

Financial Times
About this episode

Bill Browder tells Gideon the story of his battle against Russian corruption, which took off when his lawyer was murdered in a Russian prison in 2009. The war in Ukraine has turbocharged his campaign. Can he now take it further to persuade western governments to use frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine? Clip: World Economic Forum


Free links to read more on this topic:

Washington puts forward G7 plan to confiscate $300bn in Russian assets

The west would harm itself with rash seizures of frozen Russian assets

We must keep fighting Russia with banks as well as tanks

Freezing Order — Bill Browder on the trail of dirty Russian money


Subscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.

Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Nov 22
Coming soon from Tech Tonic: Defying death
<p>Investors are spending billions of dollars on novel ways to extend human life through inventive treatments, therapies, and even manipulating our genes. And increasingly, it seems as though anti-ageing efforts have moved from the super rich to a mass market consumer industry. I ... Show More
1m 30s
Nov 20
Europe’s triple shock: Putin, Trump and Xi
<p>The French pioneer of European integration Jean Monnet believed that Europe would be ‘built in crisis’. The war in Ukraine is putting this theory to the test, once again. Gideon discusses with historian Timothy Garton Ash how European leaders are responding to this latest cris ... Show More
29m 26s
Nov 13
The battle for AI supremacy
Gideon Rachman sits down with the FT's innovation editor John Thornhill and Caiwei Chen, China reporter for the MIT Technology Review, to discuss the race between China and the US to become the 21st-century AI superpower. The west is used to hearing about the might of the Silicon ... Show More
30m 32s
Recommended Episodes
May 2022
Bill Browder: Sanctioning Russia
Stephen Sackur speaks to Bill Browder, the American investor who made a fortune in post-Soviet Russia before falling foul of Vladimir Putin. Browder has long campaigned for Russia’s economic isolation - his lobbying has been instrumental in the US passing the Magnitsky Act in 201 ... Show More
23m 58s
Feb 2022
Russia’s move on Ukraine triggers western sanctions
<p>Western powers impose sanctions on Russia as Biden says Ukraine ‘invasion’ has begun, and Russian assets are set to bear the brunt of the Ukraine conflict. Plus, the FT’s Berlin bureau chief, Guy Chazan, explains what freezing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project means for Germa ... Show More
10m 50s
Feb 2024
Ep26. Was Alexei Navalny a Martyr for Democracy?
In the days following Navalny’s murder, Western leaders have made all too predictable speeches and issued all too predictable condemnations. But as of yet, very little concrete action has been taken to respond to the murder of Russia’s most prominent opposition politician. The We ... Show More
58m 43s
Mar 2022
Russian banks hobbled by sanctions
<p>US officials say Moscow has asked Beijing for military equipment to support its invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s army celebrates its Turkish drones but Ankara plays down weapons sales to appease Moscow, Russia has ratcheted up the chances that it will default on its debt with a ... Show More
10m 14s
Apr 2019
Bill Browder: Putin’s Public Enemy No. 1
Bill Browder is a whistleblower against the most powerful and richest thug on the planet: Russian President Vladimir Putin. In response, the Kremlin has expelled and convicted him twice in absentia on trumped-up charges. Browder, a financier who made a fortune in Russia, talks wi ... Show More
38m 18s
Feb 2022
Putin orders start of ‘military operation’ in Ukraine
<p>The FT’s Max Seddon, reports from Moscow about Vladimir Putin’s order to launch a full-scale invasion into Ukraine, and the FT’s economics editor, Chris Giles, explains what a Russian invasion might do to the global economy.&nbsp;</p><br><p><strong>Mentioned in this podcas</st ... Show More
10m 18s
Feb 2022
War in Ukraine: what is Putin’s end game?
As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its second day, we bring this special episode of the World Review podcast. Ukraine is facing an onslaught from Russian forces on several fronts, with troops entering the northern districts of the capital, Kyiv. The Ukrainian presi ... Show More
20m 21s
Feb 2022
Putin Moves Into Ukraine
<p>Russia sends troops into Ukraine after recognizing two separatist regions there. Then, Russia could be facing sanctions for its actions over Ukraine. How could that affect gas companies and consumers? Finally, Peloton discovered rust on some of its exercise bikes, it sent them ... Show More
9m 17s
Feb 2022
War in Ukraine shocks markets
<p>Western countries are punishing Russia after Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion from Ukraine, and UK prime minister Boris Johnson wants to punish Russia by removing it from the Swift international payments system. Plus, the FT’s Katie Martin explains how markets reacted on the ... Show More
9m 47s
Mar 2022
Commodities prices soar over Russia supply fears
<p>Western brands flee Russia, global commodities soar as Putin intensifies his attack on Ukraine, and the US announces new sanctions on Russian oligarchs and their families. Plus,&nbsp;Accenture, McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group are the latest companies to flee or suspend op ... Show More
10m 4s