Russian roubles were already flooding into the London property market, but the current unrest in their country is bringing even more investment from well-to-do Russians.
Property agents report a surge of investment from oligarchs and professionals, such as bankers, lawyers and doctors.
The worsening crisis in the Crimea is creating change in property investment. The vastly wealthy are still going after £10m to £25m Chelsea townhouses and Hampstead mansions.
Now an added tier has developed. Russian professionals are buying £1m to £2m apartments across central London.
Assets in London are seen as a safe haven. Not only is London a four-hour flight to Moscow, but its property market is viewed as a place where it is easy to buy and sell.
It is a natural trend for people in areas of turmoil to move their assets. Some estimates say that Russian money accounts for 7% of all property, both old and new.
Property experts feel that sanctions imposed from the US and the EU will not perceptibly dent the tide of Russians investing in London.
Meanwhile, Europe is in a mad scramble to break its dependence on gas and energy supplies from Russia.
The South Stream pipeline intended to link the EU to Russia through the Black Sea by 2018 is now “dead”, according to sources in Brussels. This will impact on contractors close to Mr Putin.
The share prices of companies linked to oligarchs on the US blacklist plummeted on the Moscow bourse.
The EU has spent €1.3bn building inter-connector gas links across Europe since 2009. They all, at least, have reversible flows. Germany has said it would funnel some of its gas to Poland and others if necessary.
