he is not an oligarch, but a major businessman – Kommersant

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov commented on the return to Russia of entrepreneur Mikhail Fridman. He said that Russian citizens travel all over the world, this is a normal process, but everyone has one homeland. The press secretary also separately emphasized that Mikhail Fridman is not an oligarch, but a major businessman.

“Firstly, this is not an oligarch, this is a completely wrong interpretation. This is an entrepreneur, a businessman, a large businessman, there are also smaller businessmen who either leave or return. This is a normal process. Russian citizens travel all over the world, but they have one homeland,” Dmitry Peskov answered the question of how the Kremlin views the “return of oligarch” Mikhail Fridman to the Russian Federation.

Early October became knownthat Mikhail Fridman left the UK and moved to Israel, but due to the war that broke out in the country with the Palestinian Hamas movement, he left for Moscow. The businessman said that “when everything calms down,” he plans to return to Israel and live there permanently. Russian President Vladimir Putin, commenting on the return of the billionaire to the Russian Federation, statedwhich does not see anything immoral in a person’s choice of place of residence, however, everyone must be responsible for breaking laws and comply with moral and ethical standards.

UK Government 19 September tightened sanctions against a businessman. In 2022, 27 EU countries, as well as the UK and Canada, imposed personal sanctions against Mr. Friedman. The co-owner of Alfa Group continued to live in London, from where in December of that year he filed a lawsuit with the European Court due to sanctions. 26 October London High Court rejected a lawsuit by Mikhail Fridman, who asked to be allowed to spend an additional 30 thousand pounds sterling ($35 thousand) a month on maintaining a mansion in the north of the British capital.