EU to cease sanctions against three Russian businessmen this week

When the present punitive measures against three businesspeople targeted because of Russia’s conflict against Ukraine expire this week, the European Union won’t renew them, four diplomatic sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

Wide-ranging economic sanctions have been placed by Western governments on Moscow as retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine in February of last year, including prohibitions on the import of Russian oil.

A travel ban and asset freeze are also part of the personal sanctions, which apply to around 1,800 individuals and organisations thought to have contributed to or benefited from the war.

Businessman Grigory Berezkin from Russia, billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov, and Alexander Shulgin, the former CEO of the Russian e-commerce company Ozon, are the three people who are likely to be delisted.

Georgy Shuvaev, the late commander of the Russian military, will also be replaced, according to the sources.

The EU was unsure if the lists would hold up in court if challenged, according to one of the four people who all work on sanctions and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Sanctions are imposed by the EU and are renewed every six months. To apply sanctions, all 27 of the member nations of the bloc must agree. The following batch runs out on September 15.

The EU has sanctioned around 1,600 people and more than 200 organisations since Russia seized control of the Crimea area from Ukraine in 2014.

According to the official EU sanctions list, Berezkin, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is active in media, infrastructure, and energy while Akhmedov works in the oil and gas industry in Russia.

(With agency inputs)