Friedman, who was born in western Ukraine, wrote in a letter to staff that he wanted the “bloodshed to end.”
“My parents are Ukrainian citizens and live in Lviv, my favorite city. But I also spent much of my life as a Russian citizen, building and growing businesses. “I am deeply attached to the Ukrainian and Russian people and see the current conflict as a tragedy for both,” Friedman wrote.
“This crisis will cost lives and damage two nations that have been brothers for hundreds of years. Although the decision seems frighteningly far away, I can only join those whose ardent desire is for the bloodshed to end,” he added in a letter. is provided by his office. The Financial Times was the first to announce the letter.
Friedman is chairman of the Alfa Group, a private conglomerate operating primarily in Russia and the former Soviet Union, which includes banking, insurance, retail and mineral water production. Friedman has a net worth of $ 11.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.
The billionaire is also chairman of Alfa Bank, Russia’s fourth-largest financial services company and the largest private bank. Last week, Alfa Bank was hit by sanctions that would prevent it from raising money through the US market.
Friedman’s call for peace was echoed by Deripaska, a billionaire who made his fortune in the aluminum business.
“Peace is very important! Negotiations must begin as soon as possible!” Deripaska said this in a Telegram post on Sunday.
He also drew attention to the economic situation in a series of publications on Monday, when the ruble collapsed and the Russian stock market failed to open for trading.
“I really want clarification and understandable comments on economic policy over the next three months,” Deripaska said, adding that the central bank’s decision to drastically raise interest rates and force companies to sell foreign currency was “the first test of who will actually be paying.” for this banquet. “
“A change in economic policy is needed, [we] all this state capitalism must end, “he added.
Deripaska emerged from the chaotic struggle for assets after the collapse of the Soviet Union with a huge fortune, which Forbes estimated at $ 28 billion in 2008. In 2018, he was sanctioned by the United States, which noted that the oligarch “does not separate from the Russian state ”.
