The General Court of the European Union has upheld the three appeals brought by Dmitry Pumpyanskiy, his wife Galina Pumpyanskaya and his son Alexander Dmitrievich Pumpyanskiy against restrictive measures renewed by the Council of the EU against them in 2024 for their alleged role in the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, in judgments handed down on Wednesday 2 April (cases T-272/24, T-1108/23 and T-221/24).
Dmitry Pumpyanskiy is the former Chair of the Boards of Directors of Pipe Metallurgical Company OJSC (TMK) and the Sinara Group. In March 2022, he was placed on the EU’s list of sanctioned persons as an influential businessman whose activities contributed to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
In September 2023, his appeal against this registration was dismissed by the General Court (case T-270/22 - see EUROPE 13244/24). In June 2024, the European Court upheld another appeal by the Russian businessman, seeking the annulment of three acts maintaining his name on the list of persons subject to European sanctions (T-740/22).
According to the General Court, the Council of the EU could not rely solely on his former positions on the boards of TMK and Sinara to consider that he should continue to be targeted by European sanctions.
As regards Mrs Pumpyanskaya, who chaired the Management Board of the BF Sinara Foundation, the European Court is of the opinion that the EU Council committed a manifest error of assessment by failing to take into account the fact that Mrs Pumpyanskaya was separated from her husband and had proved that the sale of her shares in the Sinara group enabled her to live in Dubai with complete financial independence.
Finally, with regard to Alexander Pumpyanskiy, the EU Council did not prove that he took advantage of his father’s position as an influential businessman in Russia.
To see the judgment of the General Court on Dmitry Pumpyanskiy: https://aeur.eu/f/g80 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)