**Russian Oligarchs Sell Bank Stakes to Escape EU Sanctions**
Two Russian billionaires, Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, have sold their stakes in Russia’s largest private bank, Alfa-Bank. They also sold the insurance division of the bank. The sales were made in an effort to overturn European Union sanctions.
Fridman and Aven were sanctioned by the EU for supporting Moscow’s war against Ukraine. However, the EU’s General Court lifted these sanctions in April 2024. Despite this, the EU kept them on the sanctions list under a different justification.
The two oligarchs sold their stakes in Alfa-Bank and its insurance division to longtime business partner Andrei Kosogov. This sale was worth approximately $2.5 billion. Fridman and Aven owned 45% of Alfa-Bank and 42% of the insurance division.
**Kosogov’s Purchase and EU Sanctions**
Andrei Kosogov arranged to buy Fridman and Aven’s Alfa-Bank shares using a loan from state-owned Gazprombank. This was done through a Cyprus-based holding company. However, due to transaction issues in Cyprus, Russia passed a law allowing the state to change the registration of “economically significant” companies operating under Western jurisdictions.
As a result of this decision, Fridman and Aven no longer needed EU authorization to transfer control of their Russian assets. They hope that cutting ties to the bank will strengthen their legal challenge against the EU’s sanctions.
**Other Developments**
The next Ramstein-format Ukraine Defense Contact Group summit will be held in Brussels on Feb. 12. This meeting was originally scheduled to take place in the U.S., but has been moved to a different location.
Ukrainian forces have attacked southeast of Sudzha, advancing toward the settlements of Fanaseevka and Ulanok. The Ukrainian military says that they destroyed several Russian pieces of equipment in this attack.
The war in Ukraine has resulted in over 1,240 casualties for the Russian forces just over the past day. Russia launched 77 Shahed-type attack and decoy drones overnight, with confirmed hits and explosions reported by the General Staff.
**Humanitarian Aid and Sanctions**
Azerbaijan will deliver $1 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine in the form of electrical equipment to support the country’s energy grid. President Volodymyr Zelensky has approved sanctions against 57 captains of Russia’s “shadow fleet,” a group of tankers used to evade sanctions targeting Russia’s oil trade.
Belgian clearing house Euroclear said that the second payment from Ukraine is expected to be made in March and should amount to approximately 2 billion euros.
