‘A triumph of money, filth, and hypocrisy’: EU decision to lift sanctions on Russian billionaires Fridman and Usmanov draws backlash

‘A triumph of money, filth, and hypocrisy’: EU decision to lift sanctions on Russian billionaires Fridman and Usmanov draws backlash

The European Union maintains a large sanctions list drawn up in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. It includes more than 3,000 people and companies. EU countries used to review the list every six months. On September 22, they agreed to extend it for a full three years, but with an important caveat: two billionaires with close ties to Russia, Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov, were removed from the list. Both men had long sought to have the sanctions lifted, both through European courts and other means. The final decision on their cases was political rather than judicial: Luxembourg intervened on behalf of Fridman, who has filed a lawsuit against the country for a huge sum, while France intervened for Usmanov and, in exchange, received a pardon for one of its citizens who had been convicted in Azerbaijan.