Moscow, March 11 : Russia’s richest man has warned the Kremlin against confiscating assets of companies who have fled the country amid the invasion into Ukraine as it will push the country back to more than 100 years ago. CNN quoted Vladimir Potanin, president of metals giant Norilsk Nickel (NILSY) and its biggest shareholder, as saying that Russia risked returning to the tumultuous days of the 1917 revolution if it slammed the door on Western companies and investors. He said, “Firstly, it would take us back a hundred years, to 1917, and the consequences of such a step — global distrust of Russia on the part of investors — we would experience for many decades,” he said in a message posted on Norilsk Nickel’s Telegram account on Thursday. “Secondly, the decision of many companies to suspend operations in Russia is, I would say, somewhat emotional in nature and may have been taken as a result of unprecedented pressure on them from public opinion abroad. So most likely they will come back. And personally, I would keep such an opportunity for them.” Potanin urged President Vladimir Putin to proceed with extreme caution in the matter of seizing assets.
UNI
