The EU has finally removed Putin’s oligarch friends from the blacklist

Brussels. The European Union has effectively capitulated on one of the most symbolic measures adopted at the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, removing two of the oligarchs closest to Vladimir Putin from the sanctions blacklist. From tomorrow, Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman will be free to enter EU territory and recover several billion euros’ worth of assets and financial holdings that had been frozen. Following negotiations lasting over a month regarding the renewal of the EU’s sanctions lists – during which Slovakia, France and Luxembourg worked behind the scenes, using their veto power to secure the release of the two oligarchs – an agreement was reached yesterday afternoon by the ambassadors of the twenty-seven Member States. The Irish EU Presidency initiated the procedures for formal adoption, which were concluded in the evening. To sugar the pill, the compromise between the 27 member states provides for the duration of the individual sanctions to be extended from six months to three years. But the damage is done. Usmanov and Fridman will be removed from the blacklist. The appeal made just a week ago by Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fallen on deaf ears. “This is certainly not the time to lift sanctions, nor to shield Russian oligarchs from sanctions, and it is certainly not the time for Europe to give Russia any gifts,” the Ukrainian president had said. According to several sources, Kyiv was not even consulted.

The decision to lift sanctions against the two oligarchs close to Putin originated in Slovakia. Like his former Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán in the past, the Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, attempted a power grab by exercising his right of veto. By 15 September, the EU was due to renew the individual sanctions regime that has enabled more than 2,600 individuals and entities involved in Russia’s war of aggression to be blacklisted by the EU. Failure to reach an agreement would have rendered the lists null and void. Fico called for the removal of Usmanov and Fridman’s names, meeting with resistance and derision. France then joined Slovakia in its stance on Usmanov, citing reasons of national security and requests from an international partner.

Fridman’s case against Luxembourg provides an indication of the scale of the decision’s implications. Fridman is a member of Putin’s inner circle. According to various investigations, the Alfa-Group conglomerate, founded by Fridman, is implicated in the war through the provision of various services. Usmanov is a Russian-Uzbek businessman who built his fortune in the metallurgical and mining sectors. In the EU’s 2022 decision to impose sanctions, Usmanov was described as “one of Putin’s favourite oligarchs”. In Italy alone, assets worth several hundred million euros were seized after his name was added to the EU blacklist. “Usmanov and Fridman were included on the list because they are part of Russia’s aggressive regime, which is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine. What has changed? Nothing,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha yesterday: “Their removal from the list is unacceptable and sends the wrong signal to Moscow.”