Russian Billionaires in U.S. Health Push With D.C. Insiders
Source: Irina Reznik and Alex Sazonov, Washington Post
Jul 15, 2016, 7:06 am ET
(Bloomberg) -- Mikhail Fridman cashed out of his Russian oil venture near the top of the market and moved to London to build an empire in calmer climes. Then Brexit struck, reinforcing his determination to keep heading west.
With Britain’s decision to leave the European Union and sanctions over Ukraine muddying the investment waters from Moscow to Glasgow, Fridman and his three fellow Alfa Group billionaires are looking across the Atlantic and see a clear stream of profit in ever-higher spending on health care. With two Washington insiders in tow to help navigate the terrain, the Russians are preparing to invest as much as $3 billion in the industry over three years, starting in the U.S., where it accounts for almost a fifth of the economy.
“There are signals of a major tectonic shift in economic development happening before our eyes,” Fridman said in an interview in London.
Flush with almost $14 billion from the sale in 2013 of TNK-BP to state-owned Rosneft PJSC, Fridman and his partners created Luxembourg-based LetterOne to acquire western projects to balance their holdings back home. After buying North Sea energy assets, U.K. student housing and a slice of Uber Technologies Inc., they have about half left to deploy.
The skills and tactics that allowed Fridman to flourish in post-Soviet Russia won’t necessarily translate into success in the U.S., particularly with relations at a post-Cold War low. So he and his partners, who are both decried and admired for their mastery of what is known as administrative resources -- the aggressive use of connections, courts and cops to achieve commercial aims -- have brought on board people with ties to both major candidates for president.
Read more: http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-OA8XN66JIJUT01-4TSPURT7UORR6BQ31V7I6NQG0J
via Bloomberg TV side screen headlne: "With Britain's decision to leave the European Union and sanctions over Ukraine muddying the investment waters from Moscow to Glasgow, Fridman and his three fellow Alfa Group billionaires are looking across the Atlantic and see a clear stream of profit in ever-higher spending on health care."
