The European Court of General Jurisdiction has ruled to lift sanctions against former Ozon CEO Alexander Shulgin, RBC reports.
This is the first time that a European court has made such a decision regarding a Russian businessman, said Yuri Shumilov, partner at Brussels-based law firm Acquis, a sanctions specialist.
According to the publication, the court had previously made similar rulings only against relatives of sanctioned citizens.
The decision to lift the sanctions against Shulgin should come into force after the expiration of the appeal period by the EU Council.
The EU Council imposed sanctions against Shulgin on April 8, 2022, justifying them by claiming that he was an "influential businessman" who attended a meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On April 11, 2022, due to the imposition of sanctions against him, Shulgin resigned as CEO of Ozon and left the company's board of directors. This, according to Shumilov, was the main argument in favor of lifting the sanctions against Shulgin.
"The main issue for the court was his managerial role as CEO of Ozon, and the fact that he left it was obviously a determining factor," he said.
Background. As a reminder, the SBU has served a notice of suspicion to Russian oligarch Friedman, who finances Russia's war in Ukraine.