Potanin condemned the plans to confiscate the property of the Russians who left

One of the richest Russian businessmen, Vladimir Potanin, who is under American and British sanctions, opposed the confiscation of the property of Russians who left, as well as the nationalization of foreign companies that left Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine.

In an interview with RBC, Potanin said that confiscation of assets is a “covert or overt form of theft” that “destroys the investment climate of the jurisdiction in which it occurs.” He believes that in Russia “there is no need to repeat this” in the West.

According to the head of “Nornikel”, the Russian economy suffers from excessive state participation, and the new nationalization will only harm it. Instead, according to Vladimir Potanin, it is necessary to “develop the investment climate and replace some investments with others – domestic and from friendly countries.”

At the same time, as noted by Kommersant, according to Forbes, Potanin leads the rating of new owners of assets of foreign companies in Russia. This happened thanks to the acquisition of Rosbank from the French financial group Societe Generale.

Potanin also condemned the plans to confiscate the property of Russians who left the country and advised “to be careful with such beliefs, which may not be liked by more patriotic people.” “People left, they probably had some reasons for that. Something confused them about what was happening,” the billionaire said in an interview with RBC, “why push them away and drive them away?” They will be hired by other companies,” says Potanin about the departure of programmers and reminds that Russia’s own software makes up about 20%. To eliminate this gap, the country needs “departees”, Potanin emphasized.

Potanin called the proposals to confiscate the property of Russians who left the country after the start of the war against Ukraine “demagoguery”. “People who harm and cause damage to the country here or there must be judged, proven guilty and punished according to the law. And those who think differently must be evaluated according to their contribution to the common cause,” Potanin said in an interview with RBC .

• In mid-January, the head of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, proposed to leave the property of Russian citizens who had left the country and were convicted under articles of the Criminal Code related to criticism of the war in Ukraine. An influential member of the Federation Council, Andrey Klyshas, ​​who is often a co-author of legislative initiatives supported by the Kremlin, agreed with Volodyna’s proposal.
• Earlier, the same Volodin proposed, in particular, to apply a higher tax rate to employees working remotely in Russian companies. This idea was not supported by the Ministry of Statistics. Volodin also proposed to confiscate cars that were left on the border of Russia by fleeing Russians and give them to the families of those participating in the military invasion of Ukraine.
• In the State Duma and the Federation Council, there were also proposals to deny citizenship to Russians who oppose the war, and the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, wrote that opponents of the government who have gone abroad and are calling for the defeat of Russia should be considered “enemies of society.” Such people cannot be allowed to return to the country “until the end of their days”, and they must also leave sources of income in Russia, he said. Medvedev even hinted that, from his point of view, “traitors” should be killed.
• According to estimates, after the start of the war, and especially after the start of mobilization, several hundred thousand people left Russia.
• After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, and a number of other countries imposed sanctions and froze the assets of Russia and Russian oligarchs. The European Commission is developing a scheme for the confiscation of these assets. The Kremlin calls this idea “international banditry” and “an attempt to legalize previously committed theft.”