The British-based businessman found the restrictions against him illogical. He said that he did not know how to live on: due to the blocking of cards, he had problems even with small expenses. He doesn’t have access to funds to buy a home anywhere other than London, Friedman added. At the same time, he noted that his problems are “really nothing” compared to the situation in Ukraine.
Friedman said he did not understand why the West is confident in the ability of entrepreneurs to “approach [президенту Владимиру] Putin and tell him to stop.” According to the businessman, the distance between the head of state and anyone else “is like the distance between the Earth and space,” and those who decide on sanctions “do not understand anything about how Russia works.”
Read on RBC Pro
On March 21, it became known that Fridman, along with Petr Aven, who fell under sanctions, as well as Alexander Galitsky and Sergey Matsotsky, left the board of directors of Alfa-Bank. Prior to this, Fridman left the board of directors of VEON, LetterOne investment group and X5 Retail Group (Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Chizhik networks). Friedman, Aven and Herman Khan have stepped down from the Genesis Philanthropy Group, a charity they founded, which supports Jews around the world.