Alisher Usmanov, founder of the USM holding, and Dmitry Shuvalov, head of the Russian state development corporation Web.rf, have failed to get the EU to lift sanctions against them. The European Court of General Jurisdiction rejected their appeals against the blacklisting.
Usmanov was placed under sanctions on 28 February 2022, four days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The rationale was that the billionaire "has particularly close ties" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, is part of the circle of "state businessmen" who service the Kremlin's financial flows, and actively supports the government's policy "to destabilise Ukraine".
During the trial, Usmanov tried to prove that he was targeted by the EU only because of his wealth and fame, denying any special relationship with Putin.
However, EU representatives disagreed with this argument.
"It is not just because he is extremely rich, but because he provides material and financial support to Russian decision-makers," said Diana Laurent, a lawyer at the EU Council, which imposes the sanctions.
As a result, the court sided with the defendant, considering that Usmanov was blacklisted justifiably.
The court cited documents from the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency (FinCen) confirming that the billionaire had transferred $6 million to Putin's adviser Valentin Yumashev.
The court also recalled Usmanov's relationship with ex-President Dmitry Medvedev, to whose foundation he donated the Rublevka estate; and pointed out that the businessman's Kommersant newspaper "took a clearly pro-Kremlin position" and published an anti-Ukrainian propaganda article by Medvedev in October 2021.
The court also refused to lift sanctions against former First Deputy Prime Minister and head of Web.rf Igor Shuvalov. The decision states that his actions as head of the state bank go beyond "technological" and clearly indicate his support for the annexation of Crimea and the Russian government's policy towards Ukraine. Shuvalov's resignation from the Eurasian Economic Commission did not affect the court's position.