Russian oligarch Friedman demands $16 billion from Luxembourg due to freezing of assets after sanctions

Russian-Israeli oligarch Mikhail Fridman has filed a $16 billion lawsuit against the Luxembourg authorities for freezing his assets after he was placed on the European Union's sanctions list.

In the lawsuit documents, Friedman's lawyers claim that the EU sanctions against the oligarch were imposed without due process of law, and his assets are still frozen, preventing him from managing or benefiting from them.

Friedman demands from the Luxembourg authorities “compensation based on the fair market value of his investments,” which, according to his lawyers, “is conservatively estimated to be at least $16 billion.”

The lawsuit refers to the 1989 investment treaty between Luxembourg and the former Soviet Union and claims that Luxembourg has violated the protections guaranteed to it as an investor under the terms of the agreement.

He wants the dispute to be heard in Hong Kong arbitration under the UN rules of international trade. Friedman's legal team includes Cherie Blair, the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Friedman, a major shareholder of Alfa Group, one of russia's largest private investment groups, was sanctioned in 2022 after russia's invasion of Ukraine as a “leading russian financier and intermediary of Putin's inner circle.”

In April, the Court of Justice of the European Union annulled the then sanction decision of the EU Council, arguing that the grounds for including Friedman in the sanctions list were not sufficiently substantiated.

As the Court's decision did not apply to the later decisions of the EU Council, the sanctions against Friedman are still in force. He is also sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and other countries due to his proximity to russian dictator Putin.

Source: Politico