The Canadian government has lifted sanctions against four people, including Olga Aiziman, the ex-wife of Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman. The relevant decision of the regulatory authorities was published in the Canada Gazette newspaper, according to
The reason for the removal from the sanctions list is that Aiziman no longer meets the criteria for imposing restrictions. She was placed under Canadian sanctions on 27 May 2022.
According to Politico, Canadian sanctions have also been lifted against former Sberbank deputy chairmen Alexandra Buriko and Sergei Maltsev, as well as Gazprom board member Alexander Dushko. All three were subject to Canadian sanctions along with Aiziman.
The newspaper adds that Dushko, Maltsev and Buriko did not appeal to the Canadian authorities to lift the sanctions.
In 2023, Aiziman was removed from the EU sanctions list. on 25 October, the EU Court of Justice ruled that all restrictions should be lifted, as Olga Aiziman’s connection with her ex-husband had not been established at the time of the sanctions.
The court ruled that Aiziman is not financially dependent on Friedman, as the case file did not contain any evidence that the former spouses maintain financial or economic ties.
She earns her own money by investing and working in the field of interior design.
Olga Aiziman remains under sanctions imposed by Ukraine, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. And her children, Laura and Catherine Friedman, are fighting against their own sanctions in federal court.
It is noted that Canada has imposed a total of 2,200 sanctions since 24 February 2022. Last year, the country’s authorities lifted restrictions on 9 Russians involved in the invasion of Ukraine. Politico writes that these people are a “statistical error”.
Who is Friedman?
Mikhail Friedman is a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, co-owner and chairman of the supervisory board of the Alfa Group consortium, and a native of Lviv. He remains one of the largest asset owners in Ukraine.
Back in 2018, he was included in the US Treasury Department’s so-called Putin List, a list of more than 200 oligarchs close to the Russian president who could be subject to sanctions.
On 28 February 2022, Friedman became one of the first to be subjected to the first significant sanctions imposed by the European Union, which resulted in him partially losing control of his Ukrainian assets.
At the end of 2023, the government was able to deprive Friedman of some of his property, first by arresting shares in IDS Group Ukraine, the producer of Morshynska, and then by nationalising Sens Bank.
Today, the oligarch formally retains one major Ukrainian asset – Kyivstar, the market’s largest mobile phone operator with approximately 24 million subscribers.
What Friedman is suspected of
The Security Service of Ukraine is looking for Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman.
Friedman is suspected under Part 3 of Article 110-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – financing of actions committed with the aim of violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or seizure of state power, change of the boundaries of the territory or state border of Ukraine, committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy. The oligarch faces up to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property.
It is noted that the oligarch “disappeared” on 10 November 2023 and is hiding from the pre-trial investigation authorities.
Sanctions against Friedman
on 20 October 2022, Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against Russian companies and businessmen, including Mikhail Fridman, who owns ABH Ukraine Limited.
In February 2022, Friedman’s stake in Kyivstar was frozen in accordance with US and EU sanctions.
In July 2023, Ukraine nationalised Sense Bank (Friedman’s former Alfa Bank). In October 2023, the SBU seized Friedman’s assets worth UAH 17 billion.