Former Alfa Group co-owner Petr Aven said his billion-dollar investments in Western countries were a mistake as he passed through security at London airport Bloomberg.
The businessman told the agency that police questioned him for three hours at London airport as he flew from England to Latvia in the summer of 2022. At one point he was asked why it was necessary to invest billions of dollars in projects in Western countries.
Aven replied: “By mistake!”
A few months ago, 30 British police officers raided his home. The entrepreneur states that this is similar to “psychological pressure”.
In his interview with Bloomberg, Aven shared that he did not understand why he was sanctioned. According to him, businessmen and politicians of Western countries bear no less responsibility for “strengthening the current Russian regime.”
The 68-year-old businessman has Latvian citizenship and owns property in the Baltic countries. It came under EU sanctions at the end of February 2022. By this time he was living in the United Kingdom; Last spring, London also imposed restrictions, calling Aven a “pro-Kremlin oligarch.” The United States implemented measures against it in August.
Friedman, friend or foe?
Another Russian businessman, Mikhail Fridman, who left Russia after the start of the military operation in Ukraine, said that British officials “squeezed” him out of the country.
“I was given no other option, I was forced out,” he said when asked to comment on Bloomberg’s departure from London.
“Our investment in the UK today looks like a colossal mistake,” Friedman added.
The entrepreneur flew to London the day after Russian troops began the operation. The Ukrainian citizen called the conflict a “tragedy” and said that “war can never be the solution.” Friedman’s charity, Genesis Philanthropy Group, announced it would donate $10 million to Jewish organizations supporting refugees in Ukraine. Despite this, Friedman was added to the EU sanctions list a few days later on February 24.
At first, Friedman did not plan to return to Russia. He left London for Israel in September and was forced to fly to Moscow following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war in the Gaza Strip.
The day after it became known that Fridman was in Moscow, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin drew criticism from abroad, saying that “Magadan was secured” for those who left the country. “We don’t need them, they need to understand that” aforementioned Volodin.
October 13, President Vladimir Putin commented Return of Friedman and other businessmen from abroad.
“If in the minds of the overwhelming majority (not some elites, but the overwhelming majority of the people) a person has acted immorally towards Russia, then he will definitely feel it when he returns here. How could it be otherwise? – said the head of state.