BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Alexander Pumpyansky, the son of Russian tycoon Dmitry Pumpyansky, won an appeal against sanctions the European Union introduced over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the bloc’s court said on Wednesday.
In the ruling, the court said the EU council had admitted that from March 9, 2022 – two weeks after the invasion of Ukraine and six months before the first set of sanctions – Pumpyansky was no longer president and member of the board of Sinara nor board member of TMK, which had been the reason for putting him on the sanctions list.
The ruling from the European Union General Court – the first instance of the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) – said Pumpyansky must be taken off the sanctions list. It rejected Pumpyansky’s claim for damages.
A court official said the EU now had two months to appeal the ruling before the CJEU’s highest authority.
Steel pipe manufacturer OAO TMK is a supplier to Russian energy company Gazprom. Sinara is Russian investment bank. The EU has said both firms support the Russian authorities and Russian state enterprises and benefit from that cooperation.
In September, the EU court dismissed an appeal against sanctions by Russian tycoon Gennady Timchenko, a long-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In March, the mother of Russia’s late mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin scored a rare victory against the sanctions. Back then, the court ruling had no immediate practical effect as she remained sanctioned under separate decisions.
The EU has imposed sanctions on nearly 1,700 people and entities over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
A court official said that about 74 Russians have filed appeals against EU sanctions with the Luxembourg-based court.
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Josie Kao)
