Thursday newspaper round-up: Russian oligarchs, Amazon, Tui

The UK-based Russian billionaire oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven have had their shares in the $22bn (£17bn) conglomerate LetterOne, which owns Holland & Barrett, “frozen”, days after they were hit with EU sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. LetterOne, which is just under 50% owned by Fridman and Aven, announced on Wednesday night that the men had “ceased to have any involvement with the company” and that it had frozen their shares. - Guardian

Angry dockers have vowed not to unload cargoes of Russian oil and gas, as it emerged that shipments were en route to British ports because of an apparent loophole in a government ban and could even be used to heat UK homes. The government imposed a ban on Russian vessels docking in the UK on Tuesday, in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. - Guardian

Amazon is closing a raft of electronics and book shops in Britain and the United States after they failed to take off. The online retail giant is closing 68 Amazon 4-star, Amazon Books and Amazon pop up branches, of which two are in the UK. The Seattle-based company is known for experimenting with store formats and services and swiftly ditching them if they prove unpopular with shoppers. - Telegraph

The Russian oligarch who owns a third of Tui Group has quit the travel company’s supervisory board after sanctions were imposed on him by the EU. Tui said that Alexey Mordashov, the billionaire owner of the steelmaker Severstal, had left with immediate effect. The company added that the development would have no impact on Tui, its customers or its employees. - The Times

Two leading British companies have been dropped from a government-backed scheme that promotes fair treatment of suppliers for “failing to honour their commitments”. Unilever UK and four entities owned by Diageo have been “formally removed” from the Prompt Payment Code after they failed to meet agreed terms to pay suppliers’ bills within 60 days. - The Times