Aven

Mar 11, 2023

Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven are set to sell their shares in Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest private bank, in a $2.3 billion deal, according to the Financial Times reported late Thursday. Fridman, the co-founder of Alfa Group, and Aven, who led Alfa until March 2022, are calling for the lifting of Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine. The pair’s longtime business partner, Andrei Kosogov, has agreed to buy their 45% stake in Alfa Bank from its Cyprus-based parent company, FT reported, citing four people with direct knowledge of the deal. Kosogov, who has not been targeted by Western sanctions, said a sale had been agreed but gave no details. An Alfa Bank spokesperson confirmed the FT story on Friday, telling RBC media that Fridman and Aven were looking to sell to Kosogov. Fridman and Aven “want to do everything they can to get out of their Russian assets so the sanctions are lifted,” FT said, citing a source with knowledge of the transaction. Once the deal receives regulatory approval, Fridman and Aven will no longer be indirect shareholders of Alfa Bank, the sources told FT. But nothing indicates for the moment that the sale of Alfa Bank would convince the European Union to lift the sanctions against the two businessmen. Fridman was born in Ukraine, made his fortune in Russia and has lived in London since 2015. He has long disputed his closeness to Russian authorities. Aven also disputes complaints that he is close to President Vladimir Putin. He is said to have lived abroad since Russia invaded Ukraine. Earlier this week, a letter to EU leaders signed by Russian opposition politicians and journalists calling for the lifting of sanctions against Fridman and his associates was releasedcausing controversy and leading to resignation of prominent opposition leader Leonid Volkov. Russia news Not all news on the site expresses the point of view of the site, but we transmit this news automatically and translate it through programmatic technology on the site and not from a human editor. smsmalex 16 mins ago