Swiss-Russian claims EU Council ignored Court's sanctions annulment
Swiss-Russian Alexander Pumpyanskiy has told Euronews that his continued inclusion on the EU sanctions list is aberrant and shows the Council is flying against a decision of the EU Courts.
Alexander Pumpyanskiy is a son of Russian businessman Dmitry Pumpyanskiy, who until 2022 was the head of Russia's largest pipe manufacturer TMK. He was present at Vladimir Putin's first meeting with businessmen after the start of the full-scale invasion. Meanwhile Alexander, a long-term resident of Geneva, was the Chairman at TMK and Chairman & President at Sinara.
Both companies were accused of supporting Russia's war efforts. TMK is a key supplier of manufactured steel to Russian energy giant Gazprom, while Sinara is a prominent Russian investment bank, both allegedly linked to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
The EU has imposed sanctions on nearly 1,700 people and more than 400 entities over Russia's war in Ukraine.
In April 2024, the EU's General Court lifted sanctions against the two Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, ruling that the EU had failed to demonstrate their role in undermining Ukraine. However, subsequent EU decisions kept them on the sanctions list under a different justification, classifying them as "leading businesspersons providing substantial revenue" to Russia.
He was originally included in sanctions lists as associated with his father, Dmitry Pumpyanskiy, based upon positions he held in his companies, but is now listed under the EU's 2023 amended sanctions criteria, which include "close family members who benefit from listed individuals."
The General Court annulled these decisions, noting procedural flaws and insufficient justification since Pumpyanskiy had resigned from his corporate positions, and the Council did not appeal the decision.
"Unfortunately the Council didn't execute the decision, and 18 months later I find myself still on the sanctions list," Pumpyanskiy told Euronews, adding, "It's a completely aberrant decision, which I don't understand; effectively, the Council is not implementing the court's decision when it doesn't suit them."
"The reason for listing me in 2022 was the association with my father," he said, adding that "it been three years since I left the board of those companies and I won the case, so the only thing left on which to base the decision is the relationship to my father."
In the interview, Pumpyanskiy related his experience of sanctions.
"The first thing is that your finances are affected. The banks block your accounts. That's the first stage; after that, other problems follow: you're cut from all the basic services that everyone needs, especially mobile phones, domestic internet, insurance, cars, etc., so, bit by bit, daily life became extremely complicated for me."
The Council did not respond to a request for comment.
European Union countries are in a race against time to convince Hungary to renew the sanctions that the European Union has imposed on more than 2,400 individuals and entities, mainly from Russia, in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Sanctions need to be renewed every six months by unanimity.
The veto has played out throughout the week in meetings between ambassadors. After unsuccessful attempts on Monday and Wednesday, envoys gathered again on Thursday, hoping a breakthrough could be found. But this was not the case.
Hungary has demanded several names be removed from the blacklist, several diplomats told Euronews. The names have not been made public. Radio Free Europe previously reported the identity of seven oligarchs, including Mikhail Fridman and Dmitry Mazepin, and Russia's sports minister as part of Hungary's request.
The deadlock puts the bloc in a situation of extraordinary suspense: the sanctions are set to expire at 23:59 CET on Saturday and there is no immediate Plan B to replace them.
Ambassadors are scheduled to meet on Friday morning, although another attempt before then is not ruled out, given the pace at which the clock is ticking.
"We are working full steam on Plan A," said a diplomat with knowledge of the process. "There's still time for Plan A to materialise. I wouldn't like to engage in speculation."
"I keep my fingers crossed for a successful outcome," the diplomat added.
The saga marks the second time in three months that Viktor Orbán's government has put Brussels on edge by threatening to undo the sanctions regime that the bloc has painstakingly built since February 2022.
In January, it took exception to sectoral sections, which cover sweeping bans on oil, coal, technology, finance, luxury goods, transport and broadcasting, and the freezing of €210 billion in assets from Russia's Central Bank. Budapest eventually relented.
This time, it set its sights on the blacklist that includes hundreds of military commanders, government officials, oligarchs, propagandists and Wagner Group mercenaries, as well as President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, among others.
The blacklist also targets hundreds of Russian companies in the military, banking, transport, energy, diamond, aviation, IT, telecoms and media sectors.
Hungary argues that Donald Trump's inauguration as US president and his efforts to strike a peace deal merit a rethink of EU support for Ukraine and EU sanctions on Russia.
The position is not shared by other member states, who believe pressure on Moscow should continue for the duration of the war. They also want to pursue a "peace through strength" strategy to reinforce Ukraine's standing in the negotiations and establish the country's armed forces as an effective security guarantee.
Orbán disagrees with the "peace through strength" mantra and last week prevented the adoption of joint conclusions on Ukraine at the end of a special EU summit, forcing his fellow leaders to release an attached "extract" signed off by 26.
"Hungary has a different strategic approach on Ukraine," said António Costa, the president of the European Council. "That means that Hungary is isolated among the 27. We respect Hungary's position, but it's one out of 27. And 26 are more than one."
The stark political divergence played out during the talks among ambassadors, with Hungary managing to block the roll-over on at least three separate occasions this week.
The veto comes two days after US and Ukrainian officials announced significant progress in their negotiations, easing tensions between both sides.
Ukraine said it was ready to implement an interim 30-day ceasefire provided Russia reciprocated, while the US agreed to immediately lift the suspension on military assistance and intelligence-sharing with Kyiv, which caused consternation in Brussels.
"Ball is in Russia's court," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In response, Vladimir Putin asked for certain "nuances" to be clarified, such as how the ceasefire would be monitored on the ground, before committing to the proposal.
The European Commission confirmed on Thursday that it was already working on a 17th package of sanctions against Russia.
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