On Wednesday 11 September (Case T-741/22), the General Court of the EU ruled that the inclusion of Russian businessman Pavel Ezubov on the EU list of sanctions relating to actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine should be annulled.
Mr Ezubov was sanctioned in July 2022 for being the cousin of Oleg Deripaska - owner of the Russian Machines industrial conglomerate, which includes the Military Industrial Company - who was himself sanctioned in April 2022. According to the EU Council, Mr Deripaska transferred significant assets to Mr Ezubov.
In the General Court’s view, the EU Council did not meet its burden of proof to establish that Mr Ezubov was taking advantage of an influential businessperson operating in Russia, within the meaning of “leading businesspersons operating in Russia and their immediate family members, or other natural persons, [benefiting] from them, or businesspersons, legal persons, entities or bodies involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation, which is responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine”.
See the judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/de4 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)