Who are Usmanov and Fridman, the Russian oligarchs France helped remove from the EU sanctions list?
The European Union is expected to lift sanctions on two high-profile Russian oligarchs — Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman. The ruling will come after days of intense negotiations that could have seen the entire package of EU sanctions, imposed since 2022, go to waste. The push was spearheaded by Slovakia, yet it was France that held the new round of sanctions extensions hostage. The Financial…
Usmanov and Fridman are two prominent Russian oligarchs who have been removed from the EU sanctions list following intense negotiations. Slovakia pushed for the delisting, but France ultimately held the new round of sanctions hostage. The two men have close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and have been sanctioned by the EU, the UK, and the US since 2022.
Usmanov, born in Uzbekistan in 1953, is a pro-Kremlin businessperson and was ranked as Russia's richest person in 2014. Fridman, born in Ukraine in 1964, is a founder of the Alfa Group investment conglomerate with interests in energy and banking. Both men have benefited from their connections to the Russian government and have been involved in various controversial ventures, including control of social media platforms and luxury real estate.
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