Abramovich’s business partner sues to lift UK sanctions

A business partner of businessman Roman Abramovich, Yevgeny Shvidler, will challenge the UK sanctions imposed against him in a London court, transmits Bloomberg agency.

Shvidler’s lawyers filed a lawsuit last month, according to the agency, saying the UK made “material errors” in its assessment of the businessman’s relationship with Abramovich.

“The UK government was wrong to sanction me. I hope the UK courts will agree and treat me fairly,” the businessman said in a statement.

Shvidler also told Bloomberg that he was able to get then UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to remove a series of tweets and videos of the plane owned by the businessman. The official in the caption to the video wrote that “Putin’s friends” are being sanctioned.

“I wrote to him pointing out that it was completely wrong and two weeks ago he deleted those tweets. He did it because he knew that what he said was wrong. It was an abuse of power,” he said.

The case will determine to what extent Shvidler “is an involved person” whose activities benefit the Russian government, the agency writes. “He can in no way influence the policy of the Russian government in Ukraine, which should be the target of these sanctions,” Michael O’Kane, the businessman’s lawyer, concluded.

On March 10, 2022, the UK imposed sanctions on Abramovich, froze his assets and banned the businessman from entering the country. In mid-March, a similar decision was made by the European Union. Britain explained the restrictions imposed on the businessman by his connection with the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Due to the imposition of sanctions, Abramovich decided to sell his Chelsea football club, and promised to send the proceeds to help Ukraine. On May 26, a deal to sell the club to a group of businessmen led by American Todd Boely was officially agreed upon and closed. The deal amounted to 4.25 billion pounds, or about $5.2 billion. At the end of May, the businessman filed a lawsuit against the Council of Europe in the European Court of General Jurisdiction due to sanctions.