The expert explained the sanctions against Alfa Group shareholders with Volozh’s statement

The decision on American sanctions against the co-owners of Alfa Group Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, German Khan and Alexey Kuzmichev was probably Washington’s reaction to the anti-war statement of Yandex co-founder Arkady Volozh, suggested Timothy Ash, an economist and Russia analyst at the Chatham House think tank . .

Details . The US Treasury Department is pushing representatives of the Russian elite to speak out against Vladimir Putin, Ash believes. “If you want to get off the OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury - Agency) lists, you know what to do,” he emphasized.

• The expert suggested that after Volozh’s statement, OFAC decided that other representatives of the Russian elite were not doing enough.

• The US Department of Justice imposed sanctions against Fridman, Aven, Khan and Kuzmichev on Friday. The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs was also subject to restrictions.

• “Russia's rich elites must get rid of the idea that they can carry on business as before while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people. Our international coalition will continue to hold accountable those who facilitate the unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” said US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, commenting on the sanctions against the co-owners of Alfa Group.

Context . The European Union, Great Britain and a number of other countries imposed sanctions against Fridman, Aven, Khan and Kuzmichev immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Throughout the war, Friedman and other Alpha shareholders tried to achieve the sanctions imposed. In particular, many well-known Russians with anti-war views, including the former head of FBK Leonid Volkov, signed letters asking for the restrictions to be lifted from them.

• Volozh made an anti-war statement the day before and called the war “Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine.” He became the fourth Russian businessman among the 200 richest according to Forbes to condemn the invasion.