Even appointments before the General Court of the European Union (GCEU) are becoming routine. At least for numerous Russian oligarchs. On April 4, one such "biznesmen" – as oligarchs are somewhat affectionately called in Russia – appeared before the GCEU. And for the second time already, since he was added to the EU sanctions list by the EU Council in June 2022. Although “appeared” is not entirely accurate here. Dmitry Alexandrovich Pumpyanskiy is actually in St. Petersburg and is not allowed to enter the EU. His assets—or at least those directly attributable to him—were frozen in all EU countries.
For two and a half years, he has been legally contesting the sanctions and has already won twice before the GCEU. But that hasn’t helped him so far. Because the Council keeps placing him back on the sanctions list. Like many other oligarchs. Since the beginning of the war, sanctioned Russian oligarchs, EU courts, and sanctions authorities have been playing cat and mouse over entry bans and million-dollar luxury yachts. The pattern is always the same: sanction, lawsuit, and sanction again. Leading the oligarch front is a Viennese law firm with extensive experience in dealing with "leading businesspeople operating in Russia and their immediate family members," as the directive states. But let’s take it step by step.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, EU member states have placed around 2,000 Russian citizens and companies on the EU sanctions list. These include military personnel, Duma deputies, Russian banks, or companies that, for example, supply the Russian military. And around 100 Russian business figures and their family members.
VIBP (Very Important Business Person)
The basis for the sanctions is Article 3 of Regulation 269/2014. And this article allows for the sanctioning of "leading businesspeople operating in Russia and their immediate family members or other individuals benefiting from them, or businesspeople, legal entities, organizations, or bodies operating in economic sectors that constitute a substantial source of revenue for the government of the Russian Federation, which is responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of Ukraine."
The names on this list collectively amount to trillions of euros. Among them are, for example, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who once bought the English football club FC Chelsea. The industrial magnate Oleg Deripaska, who maintained strong ties in Vienna for many years. And, of course, Dmitry Pumpyanskiy, as well as his wife and son. “The imposition of sanctions on individuals who bear no responsibility for their country’s political system and cannot influence it is extremely problematic,” says his lawyer Gabriel Lansky. “The fundamental principles of the rule of law demand that this only occur when there is solid evidence for such allegations.” And the court recently shared this view.
Currently, the GCEU lists 179 cases in which sanctioned Russian businesspeople, their relatives, or companies have filed lawsuits against the sanctions. profil has access to the detailed list. In 17 of these cases, the firm “Lansky, Ganzger, Goeth & Partner Rechtsanwälte GmbH” is listed as legal representative. Overall, the firm has represented nine individuals or legal entities in several cases related to the sanctions.
One of the firm’s clients was originally Andrei Melnichenko, one of the ten richest Russians. Most recently, he held majority stakes in the fertilizer giant Eurochem and the coal and electricity group SUEK. According to “Forbes,” he was worth nearly 18 billion US dollars in 2021. An energy and fertilizer crisis also increased his wealth. His yacht “SYA” was seized by Italian sanctions authorities and may not leave the port of Trieste. But unlike Pumpyanskiy, Melnichenko’s lawsuit before the GCEU was unsuccessful.
That Pumpyanskiy ended up on the sanctions list is no coincidence. He was the founder and CEO of the Russian company TMK, which manufactures pipes for the Russian oil and gas industry. His company did business with the Russian Federation, since, for example, the gas sector in Russia is state-controlled. The day after his sanctioning, he resigned from his positions and sold his shares. According to “Forbes,” his fortune currently stands at 2.9 billion US dollars. Interestingly, according to “Forbes,” it almost doubled from 2023 to 2024. He was also the only oligarch whose megayacht “Axioma,” seized due to sanctions, was actually auctioned off in 2022.
Sanction Beats Ruling
The first time the sanctions against Pumpyanskiy and his wife were ruled unlawful was on June 26, 2024, because it was not sufficiently proven that he still exerted influence over his former companies and that his positions in Russian firms would not be enough to still classify him as a "leading businessperson." In the case of his wife, the court ruled that the marital connection alone was not a sufficient basis for sanctions. The judges reached the same conclusion again last week.
Nonetheless, the EU Council continued to consider him sanctionable. And here’s why: Sanctions—more precisely, the renewed inclusion on the sanctions lists—are voted on every six months. Most recently on March 15. But the sanction proceedings before the GCEU take 12 to 18 months. Especially since the court is currently overwhelmed with Russian oligarchs seeking removal from the sanctions list. And one can only contest a specific ruling of the EU Council. By the time a ruling is made, the Council may have already placed some individuals on the sanctions lists for a second, third, or fourth time. And then the game begins anew.
“The Council systematically ignores final judgments, retroactively changes the legal basis, or constructs new criteria to legally support a political decision. This instrumentalization of law for political purposes not only damages the EU’s reputation but also violates fundamental freedoms,” says Lansky regarding the Council’s approach. And now it’s unclear whether Pumpyanskiy is still sanctioned or not, and whether his name will once again appear on the dreaded sanctions lists at the next Council meeting.
However, the lawsuits haven’t been unsuccessful in all cases: Two years ago, even the mother of the now-deceased Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin – Violetta Prigozhina – was removed from the sanctions list following a GCEU ruling. And another deep-pocketed client of the Viennese law firm was recently not re-added to the sanctions list after a court ruling: banking executive Vladimir Rashevsky.
The fact that oligarchs are suing against their sanctioning—and sometimes winning—not only drew public attention. By the end of 2024, accounts and securities deposits of sanctioned individuals amounting to a total of 1.4 billion euros were frozen in Austria, according to the National Bank. That’s 100 million euros less than in 2023, because part of that sum had to be released again.
In September, the EU Council will once again deliberate on whom among the "leading businesspeople operating in Russia and their immediate family members" to place on the sanctions list. By then, at the latest, it will be decided whether Dmitry Pumpyanskiy will sit before the GCEU for a third time – metaphorically speaking.
