EU faces backlash after lifting sanctions on Russian billionaires
The bloc kept sanctions on nearly 3,000 people and companies while removing asset freezes and travel bans on two Russian billionaires.
- On Tuesday, the European Union lifted asset freezes and travel bans on Russian-Uzbek metals tycoon Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, co-founder of a major Russian conglomerate, despite Ukrainian objections.
- France pushed for Usmanov's removal to secure a pardon for a French citizen held in Azerbaijan, while Luxembourg sought Fridman's release to mitigate his $16-billion legal claim against the country.
- Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna called the move a "very bad signal," while financier Bill Browder warned France had opened a "Pandora's box" for sanctioned oligarchs.
- In exchange for renewing Russia-related sanctions on about 3,000 other individuals and entities for three years, the bloc approved the de-listing, as EU foreign policy spokesperson Christian Wigand noted.
- Guntram Wolff of the Brussels think tank Bruegel warned the move signals the EU is willing to make "dubious exemptions," potentially emboldening oligarchs to leverage diplomatic pressure.
52 Articles
52 Articles
On September 22, the EU Council lifted the sanctions against three people - billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman and the former rector of the Crimean Federal University Andrei Falalev - and on the same day extended the entire regime of individual sanctions for a full three years, until 2029, for the first time abandoning the previous six-month review cycle.
The European Union extended until 22 September 2029 the individual sanctions against some 3,000 persons and entities concerned in connection with the war in Ukraine. However, the agreement came at a political price: the removal from the list of billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, requested by France and Luxembourg. The decision stirred up criticism in Kiev and several Member States.
Russian Oligarchs Eye Usmanov and Fridman Precedents to Reclaim Frozen Assets
Russian billionaires have begun studying the pathways used by Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman to escape European Union sanctions, Bloomberg reports on September 25. The lifting of EU restrictions on the two businessmen offered a glimmer of hope to other Russian oligarchs whose assets have been frozen in the West for years, forcing them to limit their travel primarily to Asia and the Middle East. We bring you stories from the ground. Your su…
"Moscow is jubilant because they got what they wanted: a sense of impunity, humiliation of the EU and division among Europeans."
Europe Trades Two Oligarchs for a Three-Year Freeze as Washington Aims at Russia's Oil Buyers: Who Wins, Who Pays?
TODAY’S NUMBERS 36 months (the EU’s new Russia asset-freeze renewal cycle, up from six) · 100% (top US tariff on Russia’s five biggest buyers) · 2.96m bpd (India’s Russian crude imports in July). Sanctions are getting harder to unwind, and the bill is moving to Russia’s customers. On Tuesday night, EU ambassadors ended a week-long […]
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