Russian Railways received a response from the Council of Europe to a request to lift sanctions from the holding

Russian Railways Holding (Russian Railways) appealed to the Council of Europe with a request to lift the sanctions, but received a response about the desire of the EU countries to “maximize pressure” on the Russian government. This was announced by the Director General, Chairman of the Board of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov at a meeting of the Federation Council.

“We sent an appeal to the Council of Europe to lift the sanctions. But the answer lies far beyond humanism and the legal field. We are told in plain text that the applied in relation to JSC “Russian Railways“sanctions are designed to “maximize pressure on the Russian government,” he said (quote according to TASS).

In November 2022, Russian Railways will re- turned to the Council of Europe with a demand to consider the company’s application for the lifting of sanctions. The company recalled that the document was sent to the European authorities in July, but was never considered.

Representatives of the holding drew attention to the fact that not only Russian Railways, but also Federal Passenger Company JSC and 24 suburban passenger companies fell under the sanctions. Russian Railways emphasized that their activities are connected “exclusively with transport services for the country’s residents,” and declared “neglect and indifference” to Russian citizens.

In a statement filed with the Council of Europe in the summer of 2022, it was said that the sanctions prevent Russian Railways from “performing socially significant, humanitarian functions” and discriminate against Russian residents. In this regard, the holding demanded to remove the restrictions.

The EU has imposed sanctions against Russian Railways at the end of February 2022 – immediately after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine. In addition, the head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, is under US and UK sanctions.