EU court refuses to lift sanctions against Abramovich and Yanukovych

The General COURT of the European Union has refused to lift sanctions against former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, his son Alexander and Russian businessman Roman Abramovich.

The decisions are published on the court's website.

Viktor Yanukovych challenged several EU Council decisions to impose and extend sanctions against him from August 2022 to March 2024 on charges of actions undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

Ultimately , the court found that his actions between 2012 and 2022 constituted support for policies “undermining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” which justified maintaining the restrictive measures against him.

Abramovich challenged the EU Council decisions of September 2023, March 2024 and September 2024 to extend sanctions against him in connection with the Ukrainian conflict. He demanded the repeal of these acts and compensation for moral damages in the amount of 1 million euros.

However, on September 10, the court confirmed the legality of the EU sanctions against Abramovich and rejected all his demands. The court recognized that the EU sanctions policy towards RUSSIA complies with European law and international principles.

Abramovich tried to get the sanctions imposed on him in 2022 lifted, but the EU court ruled against the businessman at the end of 2023. The court cited his role in the metallurgical company Evraz (Abramovich is its largest, but not controlling shareholder with a 28.64% stake), which is also stated in the justification for the sanctions against him. However, the court did not consider all the arguments presented by the EU in this justification to be correct.

The EU changed the wording of the justification for sanctions against Abramovich in February 2025. The EU sanctions documents previously stated that Abramovich benefited from links “with Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea or the destabilization of Ukraine” and that he was involved “in economic sectors that provide a significant source of income to the government” of Russia. The first wording was removed.

In 2022, the EU imposed sanctions on Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr. The EU Council decided that they should be included in the sanctions list "for their role in undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and benefiting from the Russians responsible for the annexation of Crimea or the destabilization of eastern Ukraine."

The EU Council based the decision on Yanukovych’s “pro-Russian policies” during his presidency (2010–2014). The statement said that after his removal from power , he moved to Russia, from where he “continued activities aimed at destabilizing Ukraine.”

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