For more than a year, the EU has been imposing sanctions over the Russian attack on Ukraine. But is that even allowed? Now the General Court of the EU has passed further judgments.
The EU General Court has partially overturned a European Union sanctions decision against a Russian businessman, but has dismissed several other anti-sanctions lawsuits. The judges announced this today in Luxembourg.
The EU justified the punitive measures against Aleksandr Schulgin by saying that he was the managing director of a Russian electronic retail platform. He is thus active in areas that serve as an important source of income for Russia. He took part in a meeting of oligarchs with President Vladimir Putin in February 2022. This proves that he supports policies that threaten the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine.
Shulgin challenged the sanctions before the General Court of the EU. The judges partially agreed with him. The Council of the European Union could not prove why Schulgin should still be classified as an influential businessman even after his retirement from management. The judgment can still be appealed to the highest court in the EU, the European Court of Justice (ECJ). As long as the sanction remains in force, it said in the judgment.
Other lawsuits dismissed
However, the court dismissed the remaining lawsuits from other Russians, including the lawsuit brought by the oligarch Dmitry Pumpiansky and his wife.
Although Dmitry Pumpyansky was not directly involved in the military offensive in Ukraine, the judges ruled that he was active in the gas and oil industries, which served as an important source of income for the Russian government. His wife has business ties to him because she is the chairwoman of the foundation belonging to the company. The sanctions are therefore justified.
The couple had argued that they considered the sanctions to be an arbitrary and disproportionate restriction on their fundamental rights. The judges did not follow suit: the freezing of assets in the EU and the ban on entry into the EU are lawful.
Special permits possible
Pumpjanski made the headlines last September when his luxury yacht was foreclosed on for $37.5 million. US bank JP Morgan recalled a loan after Pumpyansky was placed on the EU and UK sanctions list over the Ukraine war and his assets were frozen.
The EU court emphasized in the judgment that special permits can be granted in order to use frozen funds – for example for basic needs.
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, the EU has put around 1,800 business and private individuals on sanctions lists. In contrast, around 60 lawsuits are currently pending before the General Court of the EU.
A prominent judgment had already been made in the spring, and it represented a clear defeat for the EU. The mother of the late head of the Russian private army Wagner, Violetta Prigoschina, should not have been sanctioned, the judges decided at the time. A family relationship is not enough to impose penal measures against them.
Source: Stern
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