03:44Russia: ‘We have lived, are living and will continue to live under sanctions’ – Rotenberg *EXCLUSIVE* *PARTNER CONTENT*
Russian billionaire Arkady Rotenberg said “we have lived, are living and will continue to live under sanctions,” speaking during an exclusive interview to RT’s SophieCo in Saint Petersburg released on Monday.
He went on to say that it is better to live with no sanctions, since it is “easier to do business,” adding, however, that he doesn’t “really care” about sanctions. “They are no obstacle to our work,” he concluded.
Rotenberg also mentioned that at some point, Russian businessmen thought that the situation in Russia “was unstable,” while “everything was good” abroad and “everyone wanted to do business in the Western world.”
“It turned out the opposite: someone came along and seized [businesses] there, blocked accounts, blocked everything. They sat and cried out,” Rotenberg described the situation after sanctions were imposed.
“We are fine. We have everything here, in Russia,” he concluded, adding “Everything we’re doing, we do for Russia. Our children live here, we are not going to move away.”
Rotenberg, 67, whose net worth is estimated at $2.6 billion by Forbes, was among the first wave of officials targeted by US and EU sanctions after Crimea re-joined Russia in 2014.
“I filed a lawsuit against sanctions. However, it happened before the construction of the bridge. At that time they didn’t have any grounds for sanctions. I won the case. They admitted that from 2014 to 2015, sanctions were imposed on me unlawfully,” he said.
He is often described as one of Vladimir Putin’s closest confidantes. The two men have known each other since they were children at the same judo club in what was then Leningrad.
03:44Russian billionaire Arkady Rotenberg said “we have lived, are living and will continue to live under sanctions,” speaking during an exclusive interview to RT’s SophieCo in Saint Petersburg released on Monday.
He went on to say that it is better to live with no sanctions, since it is “easier to do business,” adding, however, that he doesn’t “really care” about sanctions. “They are no obstacle to our work,” he concluded.
Rotenberg also mentioned that at some point, Russian businessmen thought that the situation in Russia “was unstable,” while “everything was good” abroad and “everyone wanted to do business in the Western world.”
“It turned out the opposite: someone came along and seized [businesses] there, blocked accounts, blocked everything. They sat and cried out,” Rotenberg described the situation after sanctions were imposed.
“We are fine. We have everything here, in Russia,” he concluded, adding “Everything we’re doing, we do for Russia. Our children live here, we are not going to move away.”
Rotenberg, 67, whose net worth is estimated at $2.6 billion by Forbes, was among the first wave of officials targeted by US and EU sanctions after Crimea re-joined Russia in 2014.
“I filed a lawsuit against sanctions. However, it happened before the construction of the bridge. At that time they didn’t have any grounds for sanctions. I won the case. They admitted that from 2014 to 2015, sanctions were imposed on me unlawfully,” he said.
He is often described as one of Vladimir Putin’s closest confidantes. The two men have known each other since they were children at the same judo club in what was then Leningrad.