- Sanctioned Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman is worth $10.3 billion, according to Bloomberg.
- But EU and UK sanctions have prevented him from accessing any cash, he told CBS News.
- He said his ATM card and bank accounts are blocked, and that the sanctions are "unfair" and "useless."
Western sanctions have locked Mikhail Fridman out of his billions, the Russian oligarch told CBS News on Sunday.
"My card is blocked … all my accounts are blocked," he said, explaining that his ATM card will not work if he puts it into the machine.
When further prodded by CBS correspondent Seth Doane, who said the billionaire's lack of cash was "hard to believe," Fridman denied having access to any bank accounts.
"That's why I'm here, because I would like to explain: sanctions against us [are] unfair, useless. For what? What did we do wrong, except for doing business in Russia?" he continued.
Fridman, who founded the largest private bank in Russia, was placed on both the EU and UK sanctions lists following the invasion of Ukraine. While the multi-billionaire says he is a private businessman with zero connections to Vladimir Putin, the EU claims he is an "enabler of Putin's inner circle."
In an interview with Bloomberg published earlier this month, Fridman said he must fill out an application to spend money in the UK, which is then reviewed by the British government. This leaves him an allowance of just under $3,300 a month, he told the outlet.
Fridman, who was born in Ukraine, was one of the first Russian oligarchs to speak out against the war in a message sent to employees of his private equity firm, LetterOne.
But his public pushback stops short when it comes to criticizing Putin directly — an action he said could cause the Russian president to punish him as an "enemy of the state."
While government officials hope sanctioning Russian oligarchs will pressure the Kremlin to rethink its war on Ukraine, Fridman told Bloomberg and CBS that such thinking demonstrates a misunderstanding of Putin's complete control.
