Alexander Shulgin successfully challenged the lack of «concrete evidence supporting»; sanctions against him Photo: DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images
The European Union's highest court has ruled to lift sanctions on a top Russian tech executive, marking the first time it has lifted sanctions against a businessman punished for invading Ukraine.
The landmark European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling came Wednesday almost a year and a half after Alexander Shulgin, the former chief executive of Russian e-commerce giant Ozon, was subject to EU sanctions for his alleged ties to Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Shulgin attended a meeting with Putin in the Kremlin last February 24, the day the Russian leader sent troops into Ukraine.
During the meeting, which was also attended by dozens of other business leaders, Putin instructed the audience to preserve the integrity of the Russian economy.
Some participants later said that they had been invited to an audience in Moscow a few weeks earlier, and the outbreak of war caught take them by surprise.< /p>Proximity to Putin is ‘unfounded’
In his appeal against the sanctions imposed on him, Mr. Shulgin argued that the Kremlin meeting alone was not sufficient evidence for punishment.
The European Court agreed, ruling that EU officials failed to prove Mr. Shulgin's closeness to Putin. regime and “specific indications are sufficient to substantiate the reason” for blacklisting him.
The European Council, which first introduced these measures, initially claimed that Mr. Shulgin paid significant taxes in Russia and was “a leading businessman «. His lawyers dismissed the allegations as vague allegations with no supporting evidence.
Despite the decision of the European Court, the sanctions against Shulgin will not be lifted immediately. The European Council could appeal the decision or impose new sanctions as early as next week, when existing measures expire.
Mr Shulgin, who left his post at Ozon more than a month after the invasion began, is one of several high-ranking citizens of Russia who challenged the sanctions imposed by the EU.
His case was considered. the same day that seven other Russian tycoons were heard, including Dmitry Pumpyansky, owner of a major pipeline company; Putin's longtime friend Gennady Timchenko; Mikhail Gutseriev, a billionaire believed to have close ties to Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko; and Tigran Khudaverdyan, former CEO of Russian tech giant Yandex.
However, their appeals were unsuccessful.
In the only notable lifting of sanctions against a Russian businessman since the invasion began, prominent businessman Oleg Tinkov was removed from the UK sanctions list last month after he made scathing remarks about the war in Ukraine and claimed he was blacklisted by mistake.
This case was not related to a court decision.
In August, Oleg Tinkov was removed from the sanctions list Great Britain. Photo: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Analysts say the European Court's ruling was a big moment for the blacklisted Russian elite as they push hard to lift the sanctions.
take into account when making their decisions,” Alexandra Prokopenko, a research fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, told The Telegraph.< /p>
While senior Ukrainian officials have been suggesting for months that senior Russians would have to publicly denounce the Putin regime if they want to lift sanctions, Wednesday's decision essentially showed that such a statement was not necessary.
The vast majority of the Russian business elite remained silent about the invasion of Ukraine, and where disagreements arose, they often showed up slowly.
“When they see that they have no prospects in Russia, they can the same success to express their indignation,” said Ms. Prokopenko.
“But if there is a chance to make money at home, they prefer to lay low and stay afloat.” Mom.”
Russians whose sanctions may be lifted next
Meanwhile, claims that sanctions on individual businessmen will be decisive in ending the Kremlin’s hostilities do not ring true, said Maria Shagina, Sr. researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Instead, Russian tycoons have proven either unwilling or simply unable to stop the invasion or overthrow Putin.
Waiting for sanctions alone to help bring about regime change is «wishful thinking,» Ms. Shagina said on Thursday.
But individual sanctions are also not entirely useless, she added.
The fact that dozens of members are challenging such measures by the Russian by the elite shows that “they can still perform an important signaling and deterrent function”, and “non-introduction will be a signal of impunity and business as usual,” Ms. Shagina said.
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