Vladimir Potanin

Vasily, son of Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, found himself in the middle of a fight in Pittsburgh after painting his house with Republican slogans. Forbes describes this in its material about how the heirs of Russian billionaires lived after the start of the Russian military special operation in Ukraine.

Vasily bought the house for $1.24 million in 2019. The residence is located in the Shadyside area, where wealthy Americans live, many of whom support Democrats.

Vasily Potanin himself, who moved to the United States in 2014, does not hold American citizenship and therefore cannot vote in elections. Therefore, he decided to express his political position in a different way: in front of his house, former US President Donald Trump’s “Do you still miss me?” He placed a reading flag alongside an image of him writing. “Let’s go to Brandon” (“Let’s go, Brandon, is a euphemism for an obscene insult to current US President Joe Biden).

At first, the locals did not approve of the demonstration of such a political position and why they began to persecute Vasily: in March, a message appeared on Twitter (blocked in Russia) by the local police on the investigation of several cases. Intimidation and threats against Potanin Jr. Signs in front of their houses were damaged by “anti-nationalist slogans”, people began to threaten Vasili and his family.

In an interview with the local publication TribLIVE, Vasily admitted that his position immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the neighbors, but had not previously contacted the police. He accused his ideological opponents of intolerance.

said.

Vasily said that after the start of military special operations, they began to call him an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and rudely advised him to return to Russia.

After Potanin went to the police, it turned out that he was followed by several local residents. – They wrote on Facebook*.

According to Vasily, the hatred of the neighbors has nothing to do with his father: they persecute him just because he is Russian.

– Vasily voiced his opinion in an interview with the local edition of Pittsburgh’s Action News.

Vladimir Potanin, co-owner and chairman of the board of Norilsk Nickel, came under Canadian sanctions in April in connection with a Russian military special operation in Ukraine. Earlier, the billionaire called for abandoning the “nationalization” of Western companies that left the Russian market in connection with the special operation, saying that the result would be a global distrust of investors in Russia. Currently, Potanin’s fortune is estimated at $ 29.4 billion.

The material about the heirs of Russian billionaires also mentions the children of other businessmen who suffer from Russian hostility or sanctions against Russia. Nikita Mazepin, son of a Russian businessman and head of Uralkali Dmitry Mazepin, was the driver of the American Formula 1 Haas team before the special operation in Ukraine began. Uralkali was also the sponsor of the team. After the start of military special operations, Haas terminated not only the contract with Nikita Mazepin, but also the sponsorship agreement with Uralkali. In response to Uralkali’s requests to return the transferred 12m euros, the team put forward its own offer: 8m euros compensation for “lost profits”. The parties will go to court.

The children of Russian billionaires were under sanctions in the fund of a special operation: it affected the daughters of the co-owner of Novatek and Sibur Gennady Timchenko Ksenia Frank and Natalia Browning, Andrey Guryev Jr. (Phosagro) et al. The daughters of the founder of the Alpha Group, Mikhail Fridman, did not fall under the sanctions, but this did affect their mother, Fridman’s ex-wife Olga Aiziman. In this regard, in early May, the French authorities froze the assets of the family: in particular, they arrested a villa rented by the family in Saint-Tropez.

* Facebook is owned by Meta, a recognized extremist organization in the Russian Federation.