Russian businessmen Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven won a lawsuit on Wednesday over a European Union (EU) decision sanctioning them for their alleged role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The EU’s General Court said the lack of evidence justifies the exclusion of businessmen from the list of people subject to restrictive measures between February 2022 and March 2023.
Last March, the EU kept Aven and Fridman on those lists, a move both challenged in separate court cases.
Aven, a citizen of Russia and Latvia, and Fridman, who holds Russian and Israeli passports, were placed on the sanctions list after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Fridman is the founder of Alfa Group and is considered one of the richest tycoons in Russia.
Alfa Bank Group, Russia’s largest non-state bank, fell under EU sanctions in March 2022, prompting Fridman to resign from the board of directors to try to help the banking institution circumvent the sanctions.
Aven headed Alfa Bank until March 2022, but, like Fridman, left the board of directors after the EU decision on sanctions.
The EU imposed several packages of sanctions against Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Moscow’s troops into Ukraine.
The measures targeted the energy sector, banks, the world’s largest diamond miner, businesses and markets and subjected Russian authorities, including Vladimir Putin, to asset freezes and travel bans.
Kremlin (Russian President) spokesman Dmitry Peskov has already welcomed today’s court decision, insisting that “all sanctions against Russia are illegal, unfair and destructive.”
Neither Friedman nor Aven directly criticized the Russian invasion.
Leonid Volkov – a figure linked to opponent Alexei Navalny, who recently died in prison – signed a letter asking for sanctions against the two businessmen to be lifted, but later admitted he regretted the gesture.
This Wednesday, Volkov explained that the decision to exclude Fridman and Aven from the list is negative because it shows that the tycoons can be forced to lift sanctions without publicly criticizing Putin or the war in Ukraine.
Decisions of the General Court can be appealed to the European Court.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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