BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven won a rare victory against EU sanctions over Moscow’s war against Ukraine on Wednesday but remain under punitive measures for the time being.
The European Union Court of Justice, the bloc’s top court, annulled sanctions imposed on the pair from 2022-2023, saying the EU had failed to provide sufficient evidence to justify their inclusion on a list of individuals facing sanctions.
“The General Court considers that none of the reasons set out in the initial acts is sufficiently substantiated and that the inclusion of Mr Aven and Mr Fridman on the lists at issue was therefore not justified,” the Luxembourg-based court said in a statement.
Fridman told the RBC media outlet on Wednesday that he and business partner Aven were “satisfied” with the court decision.
The funds and economic resources of both men were frozen after the European Council imposed restrictions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Both men are major shareholders of conglomerate Alfa Group, which includes Russia’s top private bank Alfa Bank and its biggest food retailer X5 Retail Group.
The court ruled the billionaires should not have been included on the list between February 2022 and March 2023.
An EU decision in March 2023 reimposed the restrictive measures on the two men, who have lodged a separate appeal against that action.
The court said the Council may have grounds to establish that Fridman and Aven have close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, it had not demonstrated that the men supported actions or policies against Ukraine or that they have supported Russian decision makers financially.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia believed such sanctions were both illegal and destructive but that businessmen had the opportunity to challenge them.
(This story has been corrected to clarify that Fridman and Aven remain under EU sanctions for now, in the headline and in paragraphs 1 and 2)
(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Jon Boyle)
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