Seizing companies’ assets would take Russia back to Bolshevik revolution, Putin ally says
Russian mining billionaire Vladimir Potanin has warned Putin against seizing control of assets owned by the foreign firms that have exited Russia, after arguing that doing so would drag Russia back to the time of the Bolshevik revolution.
Multi-billionaire mining magnate Potanin, who in 2018 appeared on the US Treasury’s list of 210 individuals with close links to Vladimir Putin, said efforts on the part of the Russian government to nationalise private companies’ assets would undermine investors’ confidence.
Over the Telegram messaging app, the oligarch said: “We should not try to ‘slam the door’ but endeavour to preserve Russia’s economic position in those markets which we spent so long cultivating.”
Potanin built his fortune following the collapse of the Soviet Union, after he bought up state-owned assets previously owned by the USSR, through controversial auctions held by former Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Despite his links to Putin, Potanin has not yet had sanctions imposed on him.
In response to plans put forward by the Kremlin this week to take control of assets owned by foreign companies that left Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, Potanin said: “”It would take us back 100 years to 1917. And the consequences – a global lack of confidence in Russia from investors – we would feel for many decades.”
The comments come after the Blackrock, the world’s biggest asset manager, lost $17bn after the value of its Russian assets crashed following Russia’s decision to send troops into Ukraine. A number of high-profile multinational companies have left Russia in recent weeks, including BP, McDonalds, and KPMG.