The founder and head of the investigation department of ACF International (Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK, recognized in Russia as a foreign agent, as well as an extremist organization and banned) Maria Pevchikh became the chairman of the board of directors of the organization, according to Telegram opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
“Her public work over the past two years has made her a vibrant political leader,” Navalny wrote.
Pevchikh was replaced in this position by Leonid Volkov (included by the Ministry of Justice in the list of foreign agents), who announced in early March that he was taking a break in public socio-political activities as chairman of the ACF. He made such a statement in connection with the scandal that broke out around his letter in defense of Mikhail Fridman. In October 2022, Volkov signed and sent a letter to the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, asking him to lift sanctions against Mikhail Fridman and other leaders of Alfa Group. After the disclosure of this information, Volkov called the letter a “big political mistake” and admitted that he “exceeded his authority – he signed it not in his personal capacity, but on behalf of the organization,” without informing his colleagues about this.
Navalny called Volkov’s actions a mistake, noting that the letter was “technically illiterate and contained incorrect information.” “I, too, want to apologize to ACF supporters, donors and the Supervisory Board. We corrected the mistake, but it was, which means that this is my responsibility, ”Navalny wrote, indicating that Volkov“ acted with the best of intentions ”.
Shortly before this, the former editor-in-chief of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, Alexei Venediktov (recognized as a foreign agent), published another collective letter dated February 7, 2023 in support of Fridman and Alfa Group. It was addressed to Borrell and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Among the signatories were Volkov, the founder of the Dozhd TV channel (included in the register of foreign media agents) Natalya Sindeeva (recognized as a foreign agent), journalist Sergei Parkhomenko (included in the register of foreign media agents), former Deputy Prime Minister Alfred Kokh and others. Some, such as oppositionist Leonid Gozman (recognized as a foreign agent), confirmed the authenticity of the signatures, but Volkov insisted that he had only signed the October letter.
Sanctions against Friedman due to the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine were imposed by the United Kingdom, the EU and Canada. The businessman, who lives in the UK, filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg against the EU Council at the end of May, demanding that they be canceled, calling the decision unreasonable.
