Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Gennady Timchenko (10th and sixth in the Forbes ranking of the richest Russians for 2024, with fortunes of $13.1 billion and $23.4 billion, respectively) have lost a lawsuit over EU sanctions. This was reported by Reuters, citing a ruling by the European General Court in Luxembourg.

Fridman and Timchenko appealed the EU Council's demand that they declare their economic resources in EU countries as part of sanctions imposed due to Russia's "military special operation"* in Ukraine. The court rejected the businessmen's arguments. "The need to take measures to counteract legal and financial mechanisms that facilitate the circumvention of restrictive measures justifies such demands," the ruling said.

According to RBC, which cites the court's press service, Timchenko's wife Elena and Fridman's partners Petr Aven and German Khan also filed complaints against the EU Council's decision. The statements noted that the EU Council had exceeded its authority by imposing asset declaration requirements.

The European Court rejected the appeal, finding that the EU Council had not exceeded its authority and had not interfered with the authority of EU countries, which retain the right to determine the nature (criminal, civil or administrative) of the sanctions evasion offense and liability for it.

Fridman and Aven were subject to personal EU sanctions in February 2022. The justification for the restrictions noted that Aven "benefited from his connections in power," and Fridman "managed to establish strong ties with Vladimir Putin's administration." The billionaires called the decision unfounded and promised to challenge it. In May 2022, the businessmen filed lawsuits against the EU Council in the European General Court.

On April 10, 2024, the European General Court ruled to lift the personal sanctions against Fridman and Aven, which were in effect from February 2022 to March 2023. The court found the reasons for including the businessmen in the sanctions list given by the EU Council to be insufficiently substantiated. However, Fridman and Aven are technically still under sanctions, as they were included in the updated sanctions list in March 2023, Bloomberg wrote.

In late August, the EU authorities refused Fridman's request to lift all current sanctions against him after the EU Court ruled to partially lift the restrictions. According to the billionaire, the EU Council responded to him with two short letters, without explaining the reason for maintaining the restrictions.

The sanctions against Timchenko were imposed by the EU Council decision of February 28, 2022. The billionaire challenged them in June 2022, demanding not only that the sanctions be lifted, but also that the EU be obliged to pay him compensation for the non-material damage he suffered, which he estimated at €1 million. In early September 2023, the European General Court rejected Timchenko's claim.