Abramovich Loses EU Sanctions Challenge Over Alleged Putin Ties

(Bloomberg) -- Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich lost a challenge against the European Union’s decision to freeze his funds and ban him from traveling in the 27-nation bloc because of his alleged links to President Vladimir Putin.

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The EU “did not err in its assessment” by including and maintaining Abramovich on its sanctions list, the bloc’s General Court ruled in Luxembourg on Wednesday. It also rejected a claim for compensation from the businessman, since he had failed to topple the EU’s sanctions decision.

Abramovich is one of the richest people in Russia, amassing with his partners $13 billion from the sale of the Sibneft oil company to state-run Gazprom in 2005. Last year, he was forced to sell London football team Chelsea for £4.25 billion ($5.4 billion) after being sanctioned by the UK — ending nearly two decades as owner. The EU followed with its own sanctions days later.

Read More: Oligarch Fridman Bemoans a Life ‘Destroyed’ by EU Sanctions

EU judges on Wednesday also rejected claims by Abramovich of a “disproportionate infringement” of his freedom to move freely across the EU as a Portuguese national.

Abramovich’s press office said they’re disappointed with the ruling and that the court’s decision to uphold the sanctions against him is based on judges defining him as a Russian businessman. That definition “is sufficient to remain sanctioned, even if you are just a passive shareholder in a business sector with no connection to the war,” they said.

Lawyers will study the ruling before deciding on next steps, the press office said in a statement.

The bloc has sanctioned almost 1,800 people and entities since Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, starting with its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and followed by its invasion of the country in February last year. EU court appeals over sanctions can last years and seldom result in a lasting victory. Former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych and his son remain on the EU’s sanctions list since 2014, even after winning several court appeals.

The case is: T-313/22 Abramovich v. Council.

(Updates with Abramovich response in fifth paragraph.)

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