The European Court lifted sanctions against Russian racer Nikita Mazepin

Russian racer Nikita Mazepin, known for his performances for the American Formula 1 team Haas, has achieved exclusion from the EU sanctions lists in the European Court of Justice. He got into them in 2022, shortly after the start of events in Ukraine. The EU justified sanctions against the athlete by the fact that he is the son of an entrepreneur, ex-owner of Uralkali Dmitry Mazepin, who is also included in the sanctions lists. As a result, the court came to the conclusion that relationship with Mazepin Sr. alone is not enough to maintain the sanctions regime against the athlete. Nikita Mazepin had previously achieved victories in European courts, which issued verdicts on the illegality of imposing restrictions on him, but the leadership of the European Union was in no hurry to implement them.

On Wednesday the European Court made public decision on the claim of the Russian racer Nikita Mazepin, who demanded the lifting of the sanctions imposed on him by the European Union. The judges concluded that the decisions of the EU Council, which included Nikita Mazepin in the sanctions lists in 2022, shortly after the outbreak of events in Ukraine, must be cancelled. Let us recall that restrictive measures against the athlete were introduced solely because he is the son of the owner of Uralkali, Dmitry Mazepin (who later parted with control of the company). However, the judges decided that the “association criterion” referred to by the EU Council in including Mazepin Jr. in the sanctions lists was incorrectly applied. It, the court noted, “applies to persons who are connected by common interests,” which was not proven in this case. “In accordance with established judicial practice, this criterion implies the existence of a connection that goes beyond the family relationship, taking into account a set of fairly specific, precise and consistent characteristics. The Court considers that the EU Council has not proven the existence of such a connection. The connection between Nikita Mazepin and his father from the point of view of economics or capital, the presence of common interests that connected them at the time of the adoption of sanctions, has not been established,” the court decision says. Thus, the court came to the conclusion that “the acts of preserving Nikita Mazepin on the lists of persons to whom restrictive measures are applied” should be annulled.

Let us note that this is not the first time that Nikita Mazepin has sought in European courts the abolition or mitigation of the restrictions imposed on him.

Back in March last year, the European Court allowed Mazepin entry into the territory of the European Union, negotiations with racing teams and participation in championships (in a neutral status), opening bank accounts for sports activities, etc. In the summer of 2023, the court issued another ruling, suspending sanctions. This, however, did not in any way affect the position of the EU Council, which continued to extend the sanctions regime against the athlete. Last October, he himself complained that EU countries had different attitudes towards the implementation of the court decision. As a result, he was never able to obtain a Schengen visa. The maximum that was achieved was a national Italian visa. And without the opportunity to freely move around the EU, you can’t even think about a racing career in the world series.

It is still unclear how the EU Council and individual EU countries will react to the new court verdict. Nevertheless, Nikita Mazepin is optimistic.

“I am very pleased with today’s decision and grateful to the European Court for the fair consideration of my case. I understand that the legal process of lifting sanctions has not yet been completed, but this is certainly an important milestone for me,” the athlete said in a statement to Kommersant.

Let us recall that Nikita Mazepin was only the fourth Russian in history after Vitaly Petrov, Sergei Sirotkin and Daniil Kvyat, who managed to compete in official Formula 1 races.

Nikita Mazepin spent the 2021 season in the American team Haas, which was sponsored by Uralkali. In the overall championship standings, he took last, 21st place, without scoring a single point, and his best result was 14th position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. However, it should be noted that the Russian was racing for the worst Formula 1 team, which also finished the season in the lowest, tenth line of the classification, never getting into the points zone. Shortly after the events in Ukraine began, Mazepin was fired from Haas. And in general, the entire Formula 1 has completely distanced itself from Russia: the Russian Grand Prix was cancelled, broadcasts of races on Russian channels were stopped, and even the official website of the series does not open from Russian IPs.

Let us add that after leaving Formula 1, Nikita Mazepin did not part with his racing activities. He competed in the Silk Road Rally and also competed in the Asian Le Mans Series.

Alexander Petrov