A sanctioned Russian oligarch says he's struggling to pay bills and isn't sure he can employ a cleaner or driver

• Petr Aven, a sanctioned Russian oligarch worth an estimated $5.6 billion, was interviewed by the FT.
• In the interview, he said he was struggling to pay bills and didn't "understand how to survive."

A sanctioned Russian oligarch has said he's struggling to pay bills and isn't sure if he'll be able to employ a cleaner or driver.

In an interview with the Financial Times published Friday, Petr Aven, whose wealth is estimated by Bloomberg to be around $5.6 billion, said: "We don't understand how to survive."

In the interview, Aven also asked the question: "Will I be allowed to have a cleaner, or a driver?" and added: "I don't drive a car... maybe my stepdaughter will drive."

Aven was sanctioned by the EU on February 28 and described as "one of Vladimir Putin's closest oligarchs." He was also sanctioned by the UK on March 15 because of his complicity in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said at the time.

In early March, Aven stepped down from the $22 billion investment firm LetterOne, which he cofounded with Mikhail Fridman, another sanctioned Russian oligarch. The two billionaires also reportedly resigned from the boards of the Russian banking company Alfa-Bank days after the EU sanctioned them.

The sanctions meant Aven's assets were frozen and he was banned from doing business in and traveling to the EU and the UK.

He told the FT: "Our business is completely destroyed. Everything which we were building for 30 years is now completely ruined. And we have to somehow start a new life."

Aven said his wife visited cash machines in London to withdraw as much money as she could before the EU sanctions began.

The billionaire told the FT that the sanctions on Russian oligarchs were "understandable" but "not fair," adding: "I don't complain when people are dying."

Aven said he doesn't own a yacht or a private jet, which could be subject to sanctions.

Other Russian oligarchs appear to have had their yachts and jets seized since being sanctioned. Among them are a $75 million superyacht linked to Dmitry Pumpyansky and a $120 million yacht linked to Igor Sechin.