Source It is not known for sure whether the 58-year-old wealthy Russian citizen detained by 50 policemen in London was Mikhail Fridman. If so, what questions could British law enforcement officers have for a businessman living under sanctions for 2.5 thousand pounds a month. The funds of businessmen will be safe if they are invested in the development of the country. Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma, made such a statement on the telegram channel. And he recalled that at first Western countries took away yachts and villas from Russian businessmen, and now they are arresting them themselves.
This happened against the backdrop of information about the detention of an unnamed Russian businessman in London. According to TASS, it could be Mikhail Fridman.
Initially, the UK officially announced (the link leads to a resource blocked in Russia) that a wealthy Russian businessman at the age of 58 was detained in London. And also two more people who are under 40 years old. One of them is suspected of money laundering. But after interrogation, everyone was released on bail.
The media noticed that the founder of Alfa Group, Mikhail Fridman, is also 58 years old. And some unnamed sources confirmed that it was about him, TASS wrote. However, in Alfa-Bank, whose board of directors Fridman, by the way, had already left, they said that the businessman had nothing to do with this story. And he himself told Forbes that he is at home and has a meeting with friends on the weekends. Which, in general, does not refute the information about the pledge.
Be that as it may, Fridman, like his partner Pyotr Aven, is under sanctions. Expenses are limited, as the media wrote, no more than 2.5 thousand pounds per month. And, perhaps, the claims of the British authorities to a certain wealthy businessman are connected precisely with this, Dmitry Zakirov, head of the Longrad real estate consulting agency, suggests:
Dmitry Zakirov
real estate agency “Longrad”
“The top, very elite elite – they are looking for some ways to make these payments through acquaintances or trusted persons. My personal guess is that this is exactly the scheme, the incident, the system that allows the elite top of Russian business to survive and pay the bills. As for honest businessmen who have been doing business here for a long time, and they have assets in Europe, on European accounts that live here and are not subject to sanctions here, they basically live normally.”
This story, perhaps, would not have been so noticeable if it were not for the high-profile interview of Mikhail Fridman, which he gave to Bloomberg back in the spring. Then the businessman said that he had no money even for a cleaner. And then Peter Aven told the Financial Times that he did not know if he had enough money to pay the most necessary bills. And he said he didn't understand how to survive.
It can be assumed that during these months some understanding has come to Russian businessmen living in London. At least several people living in England at once told Business FM that the first powerful wave that hit British Russians had already subsided. Yes, banks still check transactions very carefully and do not open accounts, but in general, life has become easier. The visiting professor of the University of Westminster Dmitry Gololobov continues:
Dmitry Gololobov
the visiting professor of the University of Westminster
“No one heard any decisive attacks, that serious measures are being taken against Russians living in the UK, there is serious pressure – this is not the case. On the other hand, such pressure is present, because all financial institutions – and non-financial ones too – have begun to treat Russians with such high attention that it practically eliminates inefficient work. That is, a lot of accounts are closed, a huge number. Nothing is revealed to Russians connected with Russia. All operations in companies connected with Russia are very strictly controlled.”
You can remember the April publication of the Daily Mail. She released photos from an expensive London restaurant, which shows a man who looks like Mikhail Fridman. The publication then, citing eyewitnesses, reported that the businessman, who was limited in spending, did not pay for himself. It may have been his companion who did it.
But perhaps the most remarkable thing about the whole story is that the British National Crime Agency reported the arrest. And they said that only this year a cell was created in the agency to combat kleptocracy. And the detention of the 58-year-old Russian businessman is a clear success for the new cell. To this we can add that three people were detained by more than 50 police officers. In general, all this is also well known in Russia.