Failed appearances of Alexei Kuzmichev
Russian billionaire Alexei Kuzmichev lost his case in France. He contested the government’s decision to make public the addresses of his house in Paris and a villa on the French Riviera. He argued that releasing the information endangered his family, but the court dismissed his claim.
The Supreme Court of France dismissed the claim of the Russian billionaire Alexei Kuzmichev, who is a co-founder of Letter One and Alfa Group. He challenged the authorities' publication of the locations of his house in Paris and a villa on the Riviera. The court made the decision at the end of last week, as reported by Bloomberg.
From left to right: Alexey Kuzmichev, Mikhail Khabarov and Dmitry Vozianov
Kuzmichev’s assets have been frozen due to European Union sanctions, and the location of his house and villa has been made public. The billionaire, in his lawsuit, stated that making this information public endangered his family's lives. He demanded the suspension of the French authorities' decree issued in April, which required real estate addresses of Russian businessmen to be published on the network.
In its decision, the French court mentioned that the French data privacy regulator considered such publications as “proportionate” given the circumstances. The judges concluded that disclosing the property would prevent it from being leased or sold through private agreement between companies in the form of shares.
On March 15, the European Union imposed new sanctions against the richest Russian businessmen, including Letter One co-owners Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, German Khan, and Alexei Kuzmichev. Following this, Kuzmichev, along with his partners, left their positions at Alfa-Bank. The businessmen also departed from the board of directors of Letter One. According to the Forbes-2022 ranking of Russian billionaires, Kuzmichev owns a fortune of $6 billion and holds the 20th position among the richest Russians.
French officials decided to freeze Kuzmichev’s mansion in Paris and La Petite Ourse villa in Saint-Tropez, and have seized two yachts associated with him, which were moored in the south of France and had a total value of about $100 million.
Villa Alexei Kuzmichev La Petite Ourse in Saint-Tropez
According to Forbes, the French authorities froze the property of one of the founders of Alfa Group, Alexei Kuzmichev. This included a villa in Saint-Tropez, purchased for $57 million through SCI Le Cedre Rouge, as well as three properties in a residential building in the center of Paris.
In May of this year, Cyprus revoked the “golden passports” of four Russian billionaires and their relatives, including Alexei Kuzmichev.
