Associates of opposition leader Alexei Navalny have listed Alfa Group co-owners Mikhail Fridman, Alexei Kuzmichev and German Khan on the list of “corrupt officials and warmongers”, against whom they are calling for sanctions.
As Navalny’s ally Ivan Zhdanov* writes in his telegram channel, the inclusion of businessmen in the list is linked to an agreement to sell Alfa Group’s stake in TNR-BP to Rosneft, Who took place in 2012 and “could not take place without the personal control of (Vladimir) Putin”.
Zhdanov* recalled Putin’s March 16 meeting with representatives of major Russian companies, at which Khan was present. The Anti-Corruption Foundation* (ACF, International Anti-Corruption Foundation**) specifies on the site that it has registered on the list of all the participants in this meeting, considering it as a public demonstration of support for the Russian authorities. .
In early March, journalist Alexei Venediktov* published a photo of a letter asking the European Commission to lift sanctions against Alfa Group co-owners Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven. Judging by the photo in the document, the appeal was signed by politician Leonid Volkov*, CEO of the Dozhd TV channel* Natalya Sindeeva*, journalists Leonid Parfyonov* and Sergey Parkhomenko*, businessman Evgeny Chichvarkin*, politician Leonid Gozman* and economist Vladislav Inozemtsev.
Initially, Volkov* claimed that his signature had been “photoshopped”. However, on March 9, Venediktov* posted a letter signed by Volkov* alone to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, also calling for the lifting of sanctions against Fridman and Aven.
Afterwards, Volkov* admitted signing the appeal to Borrell and called it a “big political mistake”. He said he signed the letter on behalf of the ACF**, but did not inform his colleagues, thus “replacing” them. As Volkov* explained, he believed that the lifting of sanctions against the co-owners of the Alfa group would provoke “a chain reaction of public condemnations of the war and a split in the Russian elites”. Consequently, the opponent resigned from the presidency of the board of directors of the ACF**. On March 15, he published an op-ed in The Economist urging the West to change its approach to sanctions against Russian officials and businessmen.
* registered in Russia in the register of foreign agents
** recognized as an extremist organization, its activities are prohibited in Russia
