How the father of Russian-Jewish oligarch Mikhail Fridman works for the military-industrial complex of Ukraine
Feb. 8, 2023
Ukraine. Lvov. Lychakovskaya Street, 48. 82-year-old Marat Shlemovich Fridman can live here - the father of one of the richest people in Russia, 58-year-old Mikhail Fridmanwhomade a great contribution to the development of Soviet technology by developing navigation devices for military aircraft. According to business registers, since 1996, Marat Shlyomovich has been managing the Avtokontrol research and production enterprise, which is engaged in the production of technical equipment.
While Ukrainians accuse Friedman Jr. of being close to the Russian authorities, his father works for the Ukrainian defense industry. According to the databases, on October 7 last year, Friedman Sr.'s enterprise received two new phones - +380322697404 and +380322697205. The phones belong to the Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant, which is part of the Ministry of Defense ( military unit 36983) and is of strategic importance for the economy and security of Ukraine. This important plant is known to the forces of the Northern Military District - in March 2022, it was hit by a missile attack.
How Friedman Became a Billionaire
Mikhail Fridman was born here, in Lvov, in 1964. After moving to the capital, the future billionaire entered the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. During his studies, he washed windows and opened the Strawberry Fields disco, named after the Beatles song. Together with two partners, the future oligarch founded the Alfa-Photo company, which imported chemicals for photographic purposes. The name "Alpha" brought Friedman good luck, and he built a vast business empire, earning from oil and gas, banking, telecommunications and distribution. Fridman is best known as the founder of Alfa Group, which owns Alfa Bank, the largest private bank in Russia.
Chairman of the Board of Alfa Bank, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Alfa Group Consortium Mikhail FridmanThe oligarch got rich on oil and energy deals, in 2015 he received the status of a UK resident, after which he moved there. Today, Friedman lives in Altone House, a Victorian-era mansion that he bought for more than $90 million. Last year, Forbes estimated his net worth at $15 billion.
What kind of business does the billionaire have in Ukraine
Fridman managed to leave Lvov, but it was not possible to take Lvov out of Fridman. The oligarch became one of the first domestic rich who spoke out against the SVO. On Feb. 28, days after the NWO began, the billionaire sent a letter through his investment firm LetterOne calling for an end to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, calling it a "tragedy" for both sides.
Fridman can be understood: despite the fact that the oligarch always spoke complimentary about Ukraine, he was listed on the odious Peacemaker website, declaring all his assets a legitimate target for Ukraine.
At home, the oligarch has a diverse business - for example, Fridman and his partners own the Ukrainian Alfa-Bank, the country's fourth largest bank in terms of assets, and the largest telecom operator Kyivstar. He also has a business of importing and producing mineral water.
Despite the fact that the oligarch promptly withdrew from the board of directors of his companies, today all his Ukrainian assets are in question. This summer, the Ukrainian Alfa-Bank began to change its sign to Smysl-Bank. The CEO of IDS Ukraine, which produces Morshynska and Mirgorodska water, Marko Tkachuk , said that the company now does not have any divisions in Russia. It is alleged that Fridman allegedly does not influence the activities of his Ukrainian business.
sanctions strike
The Ukrainians have already started dividing his assets: according to the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General, on the eve and during the SVO, Fridman allegedly organized the conclusion of fictitious agreements and financial transactions aimed at legalizing the assets of Cypriot companies for a total of 1.1 billion hryvnias and their further withdrawal from the banking system in Ukraine. As a result, the Ukrainian court arrested part of the assets of the oligarch's companies for a total amount of more than 469 million hryvnias. This is 1.5% of the entire fortune of the oligarch - he lost much more from European and American sanctions.
In March, the oligarch told Bloomberg that the sanctions effectively froze access to his $10 billion personal fortune. Friedman is under sanctions in the European Union, the UK, Canada, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand. After the imposition of restrictions, Friedman said that he could not influence the Russian government in any way and that he would challenge the sanctions imposed by the European Union, considering them "unfair" and "unreasonable."
Friedman also complained about poverty:
The children of the oligarch also fell under the sanctions. He has four of them - Larisa Fridman (born 1993), Katerina Fridman (born 1996), daughter N. (born 2006) and son Alexander Ozhelsky (born 2000). The latter has already stated that after February 24 he left for Dubai in connection with his disagreement with the SVO, and in general, he considers himself a Ukrainian.
After the imposition of sanctions, Friedman's family villa (580 sq. m) in the south of France was also "found", which the family rents out. It is called Copab, the villa has ten bedrooms, a spa area, a swimming pool and a helipad. The villa has its own website and is registered with SNC Copab, owned by the oligarch's ex-wife Olga Aiziman and his two daughters, Ekaterina and Larisa.
The villa can be confiscated at any time, but so far the French authorities have not done this. It is possible that the European business of Fridman's children, the Ukrainian business of his father, and the arrested billions in assets are levers of pressure from the European Union on the oligarch.
How Ukraine wants to use the oligarch
As conceived by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak , the oligarch should lead the sanctions coalition, which should be joined by Turkey, Israel and, if possible, the UAE. A working group has already been created in the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to deal with these issues. An international sanctions treaty has been developed, however, under which the necessary signatures have not yet been put.
Yermak hopes that Fridman and other Russian oligarchs will publicly denounce the NVO and the Russian authorities, recognize the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and channel some of their funds into a so-called repentance fund to rebuild the country. If they don't, they will lose all property in the European Union.
Political scientist Sergei Markov called what is happening with Fridman "political repression", saying that the West will continue to force Ukrainian oligarchs to take Ukrainian citizenship and finance the war against Russia.
In September, The Wall Street Journal published the news that Friedman allegedly offered to transfer a billion dollars to the Ukrainian Alfa Bank. According to the sources of the publication, Friedman's proposal should convince the UK to lift the restrictions that were imposed on him.
The head of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption of Ukraine (NAPC), Oleksandr Novikov, also stated in an interview with Forbes that Fridman allegedly actively consulted with the authorities in order to obtain Ukrainian citizenship and re-register the main assets in Nezalezhnaya. Now Friedman has Russian and Israeli passports. The press service of Alfa-Bank, however, has already publicly denied the idea of obtaining Ukrainian citizenship by Fridman.
Why the West does not leave Friedman alone
In the meantime, Friedman is busy saving his European assets: for example, in the summer the oligarch sold his IT business in Denmark. Friedman's Maltese firm also alienated shares in PHM SF Dutch Topco BV, which owned the Polish ready-to-eat food manufacturer Maga Foods. This made it possible to remove these assets, in which more than half a billion euros have been invested in the past two years, from sanctions.
But, apparently, the West is going to put the squeeze on the oligarch. In December 2022, Friedman was arrested at his London mansion by the British Crime Agency on suspicion of money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the Home Office and conspiracy to commit a crime: the oligarch is suspected of violating sanctions imposed after the start of the CWO. More than 50 police officers were involved in the operation in the billionaire's mansion, after the search, digital devices and a significant amount of money were seized. Interestingly, Friedman's name was not mentioned in the UK National Crime Agency's statement .