Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman to remain on EU sanctions list

Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman, who is suing Luxembourg for €15 billion, is to remain on the EU’s sanctions list, the Luxemburger Wort has learnt.

Despite pressure from Hungary, reported on Thursday, for the EU to remove Fridman from its sanctions list, EU sources told the Wort on Friday that only four names are due to be taken off the list, and Fridman is not among them.

The sanctions are set to expire on Saturday unless all 27 EU capitals agree to roll them over for another six months.

According to a Financial Times report on Thursday, Hungary had threatened to block consent for the renewal of travel restrictions and asset freezes on around 2,000 sanctioned Russians if Fridman was not removed from the list.

The report stated that the Luxembourg government also supported the efforts to remove Fridman from the list. When asked for comment by the Wort, the Finance Ministry declined to comment.

However, another source familiar with the negotiations contradicts the FT’s account, telling the Wort Luxembourg never advocated for the delisting of specific individuals.

The four removed from the list – in addition to individuals who have since died – include Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, owner of the Acron Group, which manufactures fertilisers, and Vladimir Raschewski, the former director of the EuroChem Group.

Lawsuit against Luxembourg

The EU source said that the Hungarian delegation opposed the extensions, and demanded the removal of nine names.

“The ‘drama’ arose because it was difficult to find a balance, as adding or removing a name cost us unanimity,” said one of those involved in the negotiations. Sanctions must be renewed unanimously every six months, so one member state can block the entire process.

According to a Euronews report, Hungary finally gave up its veto on Friday. “They have come to their senses, I guess,” the news site quoted a senior diplomat as saying. “They have realised that siding with Putin is not the best course of action.”

Fridman has launched an international arbitration lawsuit against Luxembourg, and is seeking billions in compensation, after the country froze his assets when he was first hit by EU sanctions.

Fridman has previously challenged the sanctions through the EU’s courts. In April 2024, the EU’s general court annulled the restrictive measures saying that they were not justified. But the billionaire remained on the EU’s sanctions list because the decision of the court only applied to the period between February 2022 and mid-March 2023.

In 2013, Fridman founded the investment management company LetterOne in Luxembourg together with other Russian businessmen, including his long-standing partner Pyotr Aven.

Both men and other Russians heading LetterOne resigned as directors of the investment company – which was not hit by sanctions – within days of the Russian assault on Ukraine, and relinquished all positions with the firm in March 2022.

(This article was originally published by the Luxemburger Wort. Translation and editing by Alex Stevensson)