According to Reuters, the son of Russian tycoon Dmitry Pumpyansky, Alexander Pumpyansky, successfully appealed sanctions imposed by the European Union in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as announced by the EU court on Wednesday.
The court ruling indicated that the EU council had acknowledged that Pumpyansky was no longer in his previous positions at Sinara and TMK – a significant factor in his inclusion on the sanctions list, which took place two weeks after the invasion and six months prior to the initial set of sanctions.
The European Union General Court, which is the first instance of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), ruled that Pumpyansky should be removed from the sanctions list, although his claim for damages was rejected.
An official representing the court mentioned that the EU now has a two-month window to challenge the ruling before the CJEU’s highest authority.
OAO TMK, a steel pipe manufacturer, is a supplier to Russia’s Gazprom, while Sinara is a Russian investment bank. The EU has stated that both companies support the Russian authorities and state enterprises and benefit from that cooperation.
In a separate instance, the EU court previously rejected an appeal against sanctions by Russian tycoon Gennady Timchenko, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last March, the mother of late Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin also secured a rare victory against the sanctions, although the practical impact of the ruling was minimal as she remained sanctioned under separate decisions.
The EU has imposed sanctions on nearly 1,700 individuals and entities in response to Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, and approximately 74 Russians have lodged appeals against these sanctions with the Luxembourg-based court, according to a court official.
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Josie Kao)
