Multi-Billionaire, This Russian Oligarch Can No Longer Make Ends Meet.
This is now the life of Mikhail Fridman who just had his bank card frozen.
Who would have thought that a Russian multi-billionaire with a fortune of 12.2 billion dollars would find himself unable to make ends meet and would have his bank card frozen?
Probably nobody a few weeks ago.
But since then, the war in Ukraine has started with the invasion of Russia ordered by Vladimir Putin. This war in Ukraine is changing the game and those close to Putin's regime, the famous oligarchs, are paying the price via the sanctions decided by America and Europe.
Mikhaïl Fridman, director of Alfa-Group, one of the main Russian private groups, with activities in gas and oil, but also in the banking sector, is part of the long list of people concerned. He lives in the United Kingdom. Today, the man who would have already lost four billion euros deplores more than ever the American and European sanctions.
Mikhail Fridman has no cash and his British credit card has been frozen since mid-March 2022. From now on, it is the British government that decides if it can release money. With an estimated fortune of 12.2 billion dollars, Mikhail Fridman believes that the sanctions “are dangerous for the future”, and would have preferred that they were directed against his company, rather than himself:
“I don't think it would be effective, and I wouldn't be happy, but at least I would understand why they did it.”
He also explains that selling his business would have been “emotionally difficult”, as it is a bit “like his children”.
Mikhail Fridman's expenses are now capped at 2,500 pounds per month. Imagine what this means for a man with a multi-billion dollar fortune who had a very high lifestyle until now. This amount is unbelievable in the eyes of the Russian oligarch:
“I may have to clean the house myself. I used to live in a small dorm with four men when I was a student. But after 35 years, this is unexpected.”
Perhaps hoping to trigger compassion in the general public, Mikhail Fridman adds:
“That's not a lot of money for someone who has a £65 million Victorian estate in Highgate to maintain.”
The Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin's regime could have moved to another country, but he delayed too long, and he no longer has access to his billions of dollars. He sees himself as a “prisoner”. For Mikhail Fridman, the strategy of America and the European Union is doomed to failure:
“If EU officials think that with sanctions I can approach Mr. Putin and tell him to stop the war, then I am afraid we all have a big problem.”
Putin seems to be someone who no longer accepts advice from anyone around him in the Kremlin. Thus, it is not the oligarchs who will be able to make Putin change his destructive strategy in Ukraine. However, this is not the purpose of the sanctions against the Russian oligarchs.
I think that the goal here is to make sure that these oligarchs will eventually be tempted to turn against Vladimir Putin so that one day they can come up with a plan to get rid of Putin. For the moment, this seems unthinkable. However, how long will these Russian oligarchs accept to pay a high price for Vladimir Putin's war that they do not want?
This is the question that is currently being asked, while Mikhail Fridman, who has an apartment in Lviv, Ukraine, considers the war to be “a tragedy” and nevertheless admits that his case is less serious than that of the Ukrainians.
Some reading
Who Is Vladimir Potanin, a Russian Nickel Oligarch Close to Putin, Who Escaped US Sanctions Until Now? And above all, why does it escape sanctions?