Sanctions disputed in advance – Kommersant FM
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The European Court of Justice lifted sanctions on a Russian businessman for the first time. True, so far only preliminary. The instance decided to exclude the former head of Ozon Alexander Shulgin from the black list. It came under restrictions in April 2022. Almost immediately after that, the entrepreneur left the company, and then challenged the sanctions in court. This method of protection has so far brought success only to the relatives of businessmen, but not to themselves. Kommersant FM discussed with lawyers what helped Shulgin win the process, which lasted more than a year. And how will this decision affect the course of other proceedings? With details – Ivan Khorushevsky.
The reasons for sanctions against Alexander Shulgin were rather fragile from the very beginning. In fact, they boiled down to the fact that he is a “powerful businessman.” What this concept means, the EU Council did not explain, but remembered both the leading position of an entrepreneur and his presence at a business meeting with Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022. That conversation secured a place on the black list for almost all of its participants, since the European authorities enrolled them in a circle close to the president.
Shulgin did not agree with this logic, and also indicated that he had left his post at Ozon. But it was not his own arguments that helped him win the process, but the weak arguments of the EU Council, Dmitry Dvoretsky, a lawyer in the practice of sanctions law and compliance with BGP Litigation, notes:
“The court points out that removing oneself from the position of CEO of Ozon is not in itself sufficient grounds to withdraw from the sanctions list. In this case, the Council of the EU had to confirm, as part of its investigation, that the person really continues to maintain his influence on key sectors of the Russian economy, allowing Russia to extract income, is included in the inner circle of the President of the Russian Federation. But to date, the Council of the EU has not provided sufficient evidence for its position.”
Kommersant FM got through to Alexander Shulgin, but he refused to discuss the court decision. Perhaps the comments here are premature, lawyers say. The fact is that the Council of the EU has the right to challenge the decision of the instance. European authorities suspect that the businessman retained a $122 million stake in Ozon. In principle, officials can leave Shulgin on the black list without appeal, says Gleb Boyko, a lawyer at the NSP Law Office:
“Alexander Shulgin has so far managed to challenge the decision of the EU Council to impose sanctions, but not lift them. The EU Council, despite such a court decision, may additionally analyze information from open sources and find other grounds that would allow the name of the former head of Ozon to be kept on the sanctions list.”
But this does not change the fact that other sanctioned businessmen have had less luck so far. On the same day as the decision on Shulgin, the court refused to lift restrictions on four other entrepreneurs. One of them is Dmitry Pumpyansky, the founder of the Pipe Metallurgical Company. After being blacklisted, he, at least in words, withdrew from all the assets he owned. But the European authority continues to insist that the businessman works in sectors of the economy that “bring income to the Russian authorities.”
The fact is that not every person involved in the sanctions lists can use the formula for success of the former head of Ozon, Kira Vinokurova, special adviser on sanctions issues at the Pen&Paper Bar Association, explains:
“If we talk about company managers, then it will really be possible to refer to this specific example, when we can definitely confirm that a person does not participate in any political life, does not carry out any meetings with large industrialists, but quietly leaves, then there is a chance success. And when we are still talking about oligarchs, about large industrialists who have made a fortune in Russia and continue to receive their fixed capital from the Russian Federation, but at the same time they have moved, however, this is unlikely to save them.
By the way, the EU court still gave a definition to the concept of “influential businessman.” It can be not only a person with a large fortune or close to power, but also a top manager. And, therefore, any Russian manager, regardless of the industry, can fall under sanctions.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Ъ FM”.
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