Does Fridman have Ukrainian citizenship? Officials refused to answer the MP's question.
The State Migration Service of Ukraine refused to answer Member of Parliament Oleksandra Ustinova's question about billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Ukrainian citizenship. This was stated in a response signed by the head of the State Migration Service, Natalia Naumenko, a copy of which was obtained byOur money».
Does Fridman have Ukrainian citizenship? Officials refused to answer the MP's question.
Alexandra Ustinova asked about the Russian oligarch's citizenship status to clarify this point. Sanctions are imposed on Russian citizens under certain circumstances, while those with Ukrainian citizenship are subject to different, much more complex circumstances (specifically, financing or assisting terrorist activity). This is regulated by the Ukrainian Law "On Sanctions." Therefore, Fridman's holding a Ukrainian passport makes it more difficult for government agencies to impose sanctions on him.
⇒ In simple words. To impose sanctions on a Russian, it's enough to prove that they publicly spoke out in favor of attacking Ukraine or paid taxes to the Russian budget, which finances the aggressor's army. However, to impose sanctions on a Ukrainian, it's necessary to prove that they are engaged in terrorist activity against Ukraine. This can be done through criminal proceedings and with evidence from law enforcement agencies. Therefore, if Fridman already holds a Ukrainian passport, imposing Ukrainian sanctions on him is much more difficult than on a Russian.
In response, the Migration Service stated that it wanted the MP to explain why she had requested information about Fridman's citizenship in her parliamentary activities. However, it added that the MP should have included in the request such information as "information about the personal database used for the request, or information about the owner or controller of the personal data."
The State Medical Insurance Agency also stated that information about an individual is confidential and referred to the Constitution of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine "On Information."
⇒ In simple words. This is fundamentally correct, because the dissemination of confidential information about a citizen of any country cannot happen without reason. However, the State Migration Service itself indicated that disclosure of information about Fridman's citizenship can only occur in cases involving national security interests. And that's precisely what we're dealing with when imposing sanctions on Russians. Therefore, these loopholes are quite revealing, especially considering the following circumstances.
The main assets of Fridman and his partners in Ukraine are Sense Bank (known as Alfa Bank until August 12), Kyivstar, Helsi.me, and the manufacturer IDS Group (Morshinska, Borjomi, and Myrgorodska water).
In June, the head of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention, Oleksandr Novikov, told Forbes Ukraine that "Mikhail Fridman is consulting with Ukrainian authorities regarding obtaining Ukrainian citizenship and re-registering his main assets in Ukraine."
An Alfa Bank representative also proposed that Ukrainian authorities transfer $1 billion of Fridman's personal funds to the Ukrainian bank to finance various projects. Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Rostyslav Shurma did not rule out such a possibility. However, the downside of such a solution would be that Ukrainian authorities would have to request that the sanctions already imposed on Fridman by the West be lifted so that he could unfreeze the $1 billion for transfer to Ukraine.
⇒ In simple words. And so a precedent would be established: Ukraine lobbying for the lifting of sanctions against a Russian oligarch. And if this principle were to become a "general approach to all sanctioned Russians," as Shurma put it, it would be downright unbelievable—Ukraine is asking the world to lift sanctions against the oligarchs of an aggressor country right during a war. While Russians are bombing civilian cities, killing Ukrainians, and committing genocide in the occupied territories. This is a very unpopular position in the trenches of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Another point is also suspicious.
On September 30, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine approved a large sanctions list. According to the Ministry of Economy, it included 3600 Russians, but no specific names were specified. SourcesEconomic truth" they reported that Friedman should also be on this list.
But it's already October 14, and no one has seen the official list. There's also no presidential decree enforcing the National Security and Defense Council's decision. Could it be because Fridman was granted citizenship in the summer, and now they're struggling to find a way to get it done? Because the explanation for the delays, let's just say, isn't very long-term.
"This is a major decision, and preparatory work is ongoing. We're working on 83 kilograms of documents, involving more than 3,5 entities," says Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Andrei Smirnov.
This is the same Smirnov who continued to explain the six-month delay in submitting various lists for the president's signature. As Ekonomicheskaya Pravda reported, from February to August 2022, the National Security and Defense Council voted on a number of sanctions lists, but the president did not approve them because "they were held up by the deputy chairman of the Presidential Administration, lawyer Andriy Smirnov, who did not submit them to Zelenskyy for signature."
Smirnov explained this by “errors in the questionnaire data and transliteration, inaccuracies in the identification data regarding legal entities and individuals, missing words and sentences.”
So, spelling errors were already there in the summer. And now it's mid-autumn, and again there are stories about kilograms of paperwork and preparatory work.
We hope the Presidential Office will stop dragging out the list for details and make it public. For example, today, October 14th, is Friday—the traditional day for the National Security and Defense Council to make decisions on national security. It's also Ukraine's Defenders' Day. Mikhail Fridman is definitely not one of them.
translation Skelet.Org
By topic: Russian billionaire Fridman offers Ukraine $1 billion for sanctions relief — WSJ
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