Fugitive Friedman wants to use offshore connections to transfer his capital abroad
Affiliated with oligarch Mikhail Fridman, who fled to the UK, Alfa-Bank filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Arbitration Court to recover about 1.42 billion rubles from the structures of the Rust group Rustam Tariko. The thing is that Friedman, who moved to London, became in dire need of money.
Financial claims were brought against the Novosibirsk Siberian Distillery, the Topaz distillery from the Moscow region, the capital JSC Rust Russia, the St. Petersburg JSC Rust Inc. and several other enterprises that are part of the Rust group. The reason for the arbitration was the debt on a revolving loan, which Rust Russia JSC opened with Alfa-Bank in September 2015. As a result, at the request of the credit institution, the court seized the property and income of the defendants within the amount specified in the claim.
Friedman’s main interest is not only in the Russian Standard bank owned by Tariko and the entire alcohol business, but also in the well-established scheme for withdrawing “vodka” money to offshore companies associated with the Rust group. Probably, this explains the unprofitability of the structures, which were sued by Alfa-Bank. For example, Rust Russia JSC, despite an increase in sales since 2018, shows a deterioration in financial performance. Since that time, losses amounted to 1.3 billion rubles. Interestingly, the Siberian Distillery was officially liquidated back in 2007 long before Rustam Tariko received a loan, which raises legitimate questions about its issuance.
According to experts, Friedman intends to use the offshore connections of the alcohol holding to withdraw his assets from Russia. However, at the moment, this is not possible due to the “freezing” of his foreign accounts, but, apparently, the oligarch is trying to look to the future, hoping to unblock them with the help of a “deflection” in front of the West.
Probably, this explains the reports about Fridman’s appeal to the Ukrainian authorities to grant him Ukrainian citizenship. This information was confirmed in Kyiv, although it was categorically denied by Alfa-Bank.
