The European Union has stopped calling Russian businessmen oligarchs – Kommersant

The European Union (EU) no longer calls Russian businessmen oligarchs when introducing sanctions against them. The word “oligarch” in describing Russians in “Official Journal of the EU” has now been replaced by the phrase “leading businessman.”

In justifying the introduction of sanctions against Russian entrepreneurs, the word “oligarch” is no longer mentioned. Instead, the characteristic “leading businessperson” is used. Such changes were made to information about 140 individuals and 41 legal entities of the Russian Federation that were subject to European sanctions.

Also, the word “oligarch” has been removed from most descriptions of the meeting between President Vladimir Putin and representatives of big business, which took place on February 24, 2023 (including because of their presence at this meeting, many businessmen were included in the EU sanctions list). Now the expression “meeting of oligarchs in the Kremlin” in relation to this event has been replaced by the phrase “meeting of leading businessmen in the Kremlin.”

The day before, the EU authorities adopted solution exclude three Russian businessmen from the sanctions list. Sanctions have been lifted from the head of the UST group Grigory Berezkin, the ex-head of Ozon Alexander Shulgin, and the co-owner of Northgas Farkhad Akhmedov. Also, sanctions were not extended in relation to the deceased Colonel of the Russian Armed Forces, Hero of Russia Georgy Shuvaev.

Alexander Kislov