Prime Minister Gordon Brown was paid more than £100,000 ten years ago by a Russian bank that was sanctioned on the 24th of February 2022. The ex-Labour leader declared receiving £124,494 for a speech he gave to Sberbank and another corporate giant, Troika Diolog in February 2012. Sberbank, which is the largest financial institution in Russia, was sanctioned by the US Treasury department, as part of its punitive actions towards 13 Russian financial institutions to 'impair' the Kremlin and Russia’s economy in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Despite the significant fee, Brown's speech lasted only 4 hours, equating to £500 per minute or £8 a second. Sberbank also paid an additional £4,018 for Brown and his staff’s flights and accommodation in the Russian capital. According to the US Treasury department, the bank holds the largest market share of savings deposits within Russia and is the principal creditor of the country’s economy. In 2018, the US Treasury identified Sberbank’s head, Herman Gref, as 'close' to President Putin.
