The U.S. has issued sanctions on four Russian billionaires for allegedly enabling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Treasury Department announced Friday, a year after the four men were similarly sanctioned by the U.K. and European Union.
Mikhail Fridman was among four Russian billionaires sanctioned by the U.S.
Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven, German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev—who each serve on the Alfa Group’s supervisory board—had their U.S.-based assets frozen on Friday, the Treasury Department announced.
All four are also prohibited from selling or transferring any assets inside the U.S. unless authorized by the government.
The State Department said in a separate announcement that the four were sanctioned in an effort to “hold accountable those who enable and profit from Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
Fridman—a Ukraine native—previously condemned Russia’s invasion as a “tragedy,” adding “war can never be the answer,” according to Bloomberg, though he has yet to directly criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo condemned “wealthy Russian elites” who “should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people.”
Fridman—who cofounded Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest non-state bank, with Khan and Kuzmichev—is worth $12.6 billion, according to our latest estimates. Khan is worth $8.2 billion, while Kuzmivhev and Aven are worth $6.4 billion and $4.2 billion, respectively.
Several Russian businessmen and oligarchs have been sanctioned by the U.S. and other countries over their ties to Putin and the Russian government in the last year. Fridman, Aven, Khan and Kuzmichev were previously sanctioned by Australia, Canada, the E.U., New Zealand and the U.K., according to the Treasury Department. Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich—who owns the English Premier League soccer club Chelsea—was previously sanctioned by the U.K. government in March, alongside Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, En+ Group’s Oleg Deripaska, VTB Bank chairman Andrey Kostin and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, among others. George Voloshin, a sanctions expert at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, told the Wall Street Journal that sanctions are “not really effective from the point of view of policy,” while some experts noted the sanctions would only provoke the businessmen to further support Russia’s efforts.
US Sanctions Alfa Tycoons For Allegedly Enabling Russia Invasion (Bloomberg)