The father of Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman works for Ukraine's military-industrial complex.

Mikhail Fridman, one of the wealthiest Russians, lives in London and resists Western sanctions while his father helps the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukrainian authorities have special plans for Fridman Jr.

In Lviv, Ukraine, 82-year-old Marat Shlyomovich Fridman, father of the 58-year-old Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, lives. He made significant contributions to Soviet technology by developing navigation devices for military aircraft. Since 1996, Marat Shlyomovich has managed the Avtokontrol research and production enterprise, which produces technical equipment.

While Ukrainians accuse Friedman Jr. of having close ties to the Russian authorities, his father works for the Ukrainian defense industry. In October last year, Friedman Sr.’s enterprise received two new phones belonging to the Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant, which is part of the Ministry of Defense.military unit 36983 and it's critically important for Ukraine's economy and security. This crucial plant was targeted by a missile attack in March 2022, known to the forces of the Northern Military District.

The Rise of Friedman as a Billionaire

Mikhail Fridman was born in Lviv in 1964. After moving to the capital, he attended the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. During his studies, he washed windows and opened the Strawberry Fields disco, named after the Beatles song. The future oligarch founded the Alfa-Photo company with two partners, and from there, he built a vast business empire, primarily in oil, gas, banking, telecommunications, and distribution. Fridman is most famous as the founder of Alfa Group, which owns Alfa Bank, Russia's largest private bank.

The oligarch amassed his wealth through oil and energy deals. In 2015, he became a UK resident and moved there. Today, Friedman resides in Altone House, a Victorian-era mansion that he purchased for over $90 million. Last year, Forbes estimated his net worth at $15 billion.

What businesses does the billionaire have in Ukraine?

Fridman managed to leave Lviv, but his ties to the city remained strong. He was one of the first wealthy individuals to oppose the SVO. In February 28, shortly after the NWO began, he urged an end to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, labeling it a “tragedy” for both sides through his investment firm, LetterOne.

Fridman's actions can be understood given that, despite speaking positively about Ukraine, he was listed on the odious Peacemaker website, making all his assets a legitimate target for Ukraine.

At his house, the billionaire has a variety of businesses – for instance, Fridman and his partners possess the Ukrainian Alfa-Bank, which is the country’s fourth largest bank based on assets, and the biggest telecom company Kyivstar. He also operates a business that brings in and manufactures mineral water.

Even though the billionaire quickly left the board of directors of his companies, today all of his Ukrainian assets are in doubt. This summer, the Ukrainian Alfa-Bank started changing its name to Smysl-Bank. Marko Tkachuk, the CEO of IDS Ukraine, which produces Morshynska and Mirgorodska water, mentioned that the company now has no connections in Russia. It is claimed that Fridman supposedly doesn't have an influence on the operations of his Ukrainian business.

sanctions hit

The Ukrainians have already started dividing his assets: according to the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General, before and during the conflict, Fridman allegedly arranged fake agreements and financial transactions to legalize the assets of Cypriot companies for a total of 1.1 billion hryvnias and then withdraw them from the banking system in Ukraine. The Ukrainian court has seized part of the assets of the billionaire’s companies totaling more than 469 million hryvnias. This is 1.5% of the entire fortune of the billionaire – he lost much more from European and American sanctions.

In March, the billionaire told Bloomberg that the sanctions effectively blocked access to his $10 billion personal fortune. Friedman is under sanctions in the European Union, the UK, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand. After the imposition of restrictions, Friedman stated that he couldn't influence the Russian government in any way and that he would contest the sanctions imposed by the European Union, considering them “unfair” and “unreasonable.”

Friedman also griped about poverty:

Perhaps I should clean the house by myself. This is okay. When I was a student, I lived in a small dorm room with four other men. But after 35 years, this is unexpected.

The offspring of the billionaire also got targeted by the sanctions. He has four – Larisa Fridman (born 1993), Katerina Fridman (born 1996), daughter N. (born 2006), and son Alexander Ozhelsky (born 2000). The latter has already mentioned that after February 24 he moved to Dubai due to his disagreement with the conflict, and generally, he sees himself as a Ukrainian.

After the sanctions were imposed, Friedman’s family villa (580 sq. m) in the south of France was also “discovered”, which the family rents out. It's called Copab, the villa has ten bedrooms, a spa area, a swimming pool, and a heliport. The villa has its own website and is registered with SNC Copab, owned by the billionaire’s ex-wife Olga Aiziman and his two daughters, Ekaterina and Larisa.

The villa could be taken away at any time, but so far the French authorities haven't done so. It's possible that the European business of Fridman’s children, the Ukrainian business of his father, and the seized billions in assets are methods of pressuring the billionaire from the European Union.

How Ukraine plans to involve the oligarch

According to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, the idea is for the oligarch to lead a sanctions coalition that Turkey, Israel, and, if possible, the UAE will join. A working group has been set up in the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address these matters. Although an international sanctions treaty has been drafted, the required signatures have not been obtained yet.

Yermak is hopeful that Fridman and other Russian oligarchs will publicly reject the NVO and the Russian authorities, acknowledge Ukraine's territorial integrity, and allocate some of their funds to a so-called repentance fund for the country's reconstruction. Failure to do so will result in the loss of all their property in the European Union.

Political analyst Sergei Markov labeled the situation concerning Fridman as “political repression”, stating that the West will continue to pressure domestic oligarchs to acquire Ukrainian citizenship and fund the confrontation against Russia.

In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that Friedman purportedly offered to transfer a billion dollars to the Ukrainian Alfa Bank. According to the publication's sources, Friedman’s proposal aims to convince the UK to lift the imposed restrictions on him.

The head of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption of Ukraine (NAPC), Oleksandr Novikov, also mentioned in an interview with Forbes that Fridman allegedly actively sought advice from the authorities to obtain Ukrainian citizenship and re-register the main assets in Nezalezhnaya. Fridman currently holds Russian and Israeli passports. However, Alfa-Bank's press service has publicly denied the idea of Fridman obtaining Ukrainian citizenship.

Why the West is not leaving Friedman alone

Meanwhile, Friedman is focused on safeguarding his European assets: for example, during the summer, the oligarch sold his IT business in Denmark. Friedman's Maltese firm also disposed of shares in PHM SF Dutch Topco BV, which owned the Polish ready-to-eat food manufacturer Maga Foods. This allowed the removal of these assets from sanctions, despite over half a billion euros being invested in them over the past two years.

However, it appears that the West is planning to put pressure on the oligarch. In December 2022, Friedman was arrested at his London mansion by the British Crime Agency on suspicion of money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the Home Office, and conspiracy to commit a crime. The oligarch is suspected of violating sanctions imposed after the start of the CWO. More than 50 police officers participated in the operation at the billionaire’s mansion, resulting in the seizure of digital devices and a substantial amount of money. Interestingly, Friedman’s name was not mentioned in the UK National Crime Agency’s statement.