EU court refuses to lift sanctions against Putin's friend Timchenko, three other oligarchs

The Court of the European Union in Luxembourg rejected the claims of businessmen related to Russian President Vladimir Putin to lift the sanctions. The decision regarding billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky and his wife Galina has been published on the court's website. According to the media, the court also rejected the appeals of three more Russian oligarchs.

The court's decision states that the sanctions against Pumpyansky and his wife are justified, as he is involved in the oil and gas sector of the economy, which is important for Russia.

Pumpyansky is among the 200 richest businessmen in Russia, according to Forbes. He was sanctioned in the first weeks of the Russian invasion, along with his wife and son. After that, the billionaire left the board of directors of the Pipe Metallurgical Co. and allegedly ceased to be a beneficiary of the company in which he owned 90.6%.

Bloomberg writes that the court also rejected the appeal of Putin's friend Gennady Timchenko and his wife.

According to Deutsche Welle, the court also rejected a similar lawsuit filed by billionaire Mikhail Gutseriev and the former managing director of Yandex, Tigran Khudaverdyan.

The European Union has imposed sanctions against about 1,800 individuals and organizations since Russia attacked Ukraine starting in 2014. Dozens of Russian oligarchs have turned to the bloc's courts in Luxembourg in an attempt to escape sanctions and regain control of their assets, mansions and superyachts.

On July 12, news emerged that Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was contesting the sanctions of the European Union. Sanctions against him were introduced allegedly solely because he is a "famous Russian businessman."

Arkady Volozh, the co-founder of the Russian IT company Yandex, condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than a year and a half after the start of the full-scale war. After his anti-war statement, Volozh sent the authorities of the European Union an official request for exclusion from the sanctions lists.

The companies of the largest Russian oligarchs, including Oleg Deripaska and Leonid Mikhelson, help to find mercenaries for the war against Ukraine and at the same time have avoided sanctions.

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