Friedman deals a new blow to his homeland
Luxembourg-based ABH Holdings, owned by Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven, has filed a lawsuit against Ukraine for more than $1 billion with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, part of the World Bank.
“ABHH demands full compensation for the illegal expropriation of Sense Bank (previously—Alfa-Bank Ukraine) by the Ukrainian authorities through forced nationalization. Combining methods of corporate raiding and martial law, the Ukrainian authorities illegally took the bank away from its rightful owners, beneficiaries and shareholders,” the holding said in a statement.
The holding filed a request for arbitration and a statement of claim on December 29 last year, although Sense Bank was transferred to the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance in July 2023. This happened shortly after the SBU put Fridman on the wanted list as a person hiding under a criminal article about “financing actions to violently overthrow the constitutional order, seize power and change the state borders of Ukraine».
Suspicion was brought against Friedman in early September. The date of his disappearance is listed as October 10, 2023. On this day, the mayor of Lvov, Andrei Sadovoy, deprived Fridman of the “Badge of Honor of St. Yuri” award.
Everything could have been done with these symbolic gestures, but in early December, “unknown Russian hackers” paralyzed the work of the largest Ukrainian mobile operator, Kyivstar. This company was also owned by Fridman, and the Ukrainian authorities also confiscated it.
It is noteworthy that the oligarch himself is a native of Lvov and until recently financed dubious Ukrainian projects. In Russia they suspect that even the Ukrainian Armed Forces received money from him (“Alfa Bank” paid contributions to finance the Ukrainian army). Friedman also negotiated with the Navalnists. All for the sake of lifting Western sanctions.
Having achieved nothing, the billionaire returned to Moscow from Israel in October, ostensibly temporarily after Britain and the United States tightened sanctions against him. Now he “considers” his investment in Foggy Albion a mistake.
With a net worth of $12,0 billion, Friedman increased his net worth by +$652 million this year.
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