“Friends don’t behave like that”

Major Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov, who was included in the sanctions lists of Western countries in connection with the war in Ukraine, said that he strives to stay “away from politics” and “feels close to all victims of military actions in Ukraine.” In an interview with the Italian publication Corriere della Sera, Usmanov did not condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but he did not support it either, expressing hope for the end of hostilities.

According to Usmanov, the sanctions, in particular those imposed against him by the European Union, damaged not only his business, but also his reputation. The businessman, who, according to Forbes, ranks eighth among Russians in terms of wealth, claims that he cannot be called an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, and, therefore, the sanctions against him are unfair. “When people begin to be labeled because of the money or passport they have in their pockets, we know from history what kind of disasters happen. If collective responsibility works, justice is dead,” Usmanov said. According to him, it is an unfair accusation that his companies, at least through taxes, finance the war, since Western companies also pay taxes in Russia. “As for Putin, yes, he awarded me several times for my successes, but he did it in the years when foreigners were competing for the same recognition,” Usmanov said. “Friends don’t behave like that,” he said, in particular, about the arrest of real estate connected to him in Sardinia, noting that he will not stop loving Italy.

To a direct question about whether it was right to invade Ukraine, Usmanov answered: “I stay away from politics, I prefer spheres in which I can unite people, and not divide them.” He also expressed hope “that this tragic conflict will soon end and that diplomacy will finally play its role.” Usmanov also answered a question about the Kommersant newspaper, the owner of which he is, saying that he “does not feel pressure and does not interfere in the work of the editorial office.”

• Alisher Usmanov is the largest shareholder of the USM Group, which includes Metalloinvest, Udokanskaya Med and MegaFon. EU sanctions against him were introduced on February 28, 2022 due to “particularly close ties with President Vladimir Putin.” He challenged the introduction of sanctions in court, the case has not yet been considered.
• In January 2023, the businessman asked to be removed from the board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs “due to his retirement and withdrawal from active activity.” Usmanov lives abroad.
• Usmanov rarely made political statements. In 2017, his extracurricular controversy with Alexei Navalny, who mentioned Usmanov in a negative context in his investigation of Dmitry Medvedev, gained great resonance in 2017. “Ugh, Alexey Navalny,” Usmanov said at the end of the 12-minute video.
• Usmanov’s name is mentioned in the recently published investigation by Proekt about the contracts of dozens of Russian oligarchs’ companies with the Ministry of Defense and other law enforcement agencies. In it, it is noted that only one of those included in the Russian Forbes list – Oleg Tynkov – publicly and unequivocally condemned the war.