Lawyers explained sanctions against Abramovich's partner as "pressure" on Truss

In August 2023, Evgeny Shvidler lost in the High Court of London, where he tried to challenge the sanctions . Now he is seeking their overturning in the Court of Appeal. The businessman insists that they were entered by mistake Businessman Evgeniy Shvidler

Business partner of Russian businessman Roman Abramovich Evgeny Shvidler ( Forbes estimates his fortune at $1.5 billion) continues to seek the lifting of British sanctions imposed against him - this time in the Court of Appeal, Reuters reports, citing court documents.

Shvidler is a British citizen and claims that he never had Russian citizenship. He came under London sanctions (providing for the blocking of funds and assets) in the spring of 2022 for actions “threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine.” Restrictive measures by Britain “due to connections with the Kremlin” were then introduced against Shvidler’s business partner, businessman Roman Abramovich (Forbes estimates the fortune of Abramovich and his family at $9.2 billion).

As evidence that the businessman received financial benefits from Abramovich, Britain connects Shvidler with the companies Evraz and Sibneft, Reuters reports. Abramovich is the largest but non-controlling shareholder of Evraz with a stake of 28.64%. In 2005, he sold Sibneft to Gazprom.

Shvidler believes Britain's decision to impose restrictions on him only because of his connections with Abramovich, whom he called a close friend, was wrong. Last August, the billionaire lost in the High Court of London, where he tried to challenge the sanctions.

The businessman’s lawyer, David Anderson, citing “recently released documents,” claims that Grant Shapps, who headed the Ministry of Transport, pressured then-Foreign Minister Liz Truss to impose sanctions against Shvidler. According to Anderson, this was done "on short notice and based on limited information."

“There is nothing reprehensible in interdepartmental cooperation of this kind,” said British government lawyer James Eady, in turn.

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Shvidler filed a lawsuit to lift the sanctions in March last year. He insists they were introduced by mistake. Then the businessman said that he had gotten the former Minister of Transport to delete tweets and videos of the plane that he owned. Shapps wrote in the caption to the video that “Putin’s friends” are being sanctioned. “I wrote to him pointing out that this was completely wrong and he deleted the tweets two weeks ago. He did it because he knew what he said was wrong. It was an abuse of power,” said Shvidler. The billionaire also complained that he had suffered "severe hardship" since being hit by British sanctions.