Ozon, Yandex, and Wildberries banks caught in the EU’s largest sanctions sweep in four years
The European Union published the lists for its 21st sanctions package in the bloc’s Official Journal, naming 48 individuals. They include:
- Mikhail Degtyarev — sports minister and head of the Russian Olympic Committee
- Vladimir Medinsky — an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin who led the Russian delegation in talks with Ukraine in Turkey
- Alexander Zharov — general director of Gazprom-Media and former head of Roskomnadzor
- Arkady Dvorkovich — president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE)
- Vladimir Tabak — general director of ANO Dialog
- Oleg Belozerov — general director of Russian Railways
- Mikhail Gutseriev — founder of the Safmar industrial and financial group
The EU justified the sanctions against Degtyarev by citing his official pledge to help rehabilitate Russian soldiers through sports and his description of himself as a “soldier of Putin.” It also noted that he considers developing sports infrastructure in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory one of his priorities.
The EU justified the sanctions against Medinsky by calling him “one of the key figures in state propaganda.” It noted that he wrote school textbooks presenting Ukraine as part of the “Russian world” and that he defends the ”special military operation” and denies Russia’s abductions of Ukrainian children.
The list also includes 170 organizations, more than half of which (94) are banks, including DOM.RF, Ak Bars, Uralsib, MTS Bank, Tochka, Ozon Bank, Yandex Bank, Wildberries Bank, Pochta Bank, and Rosselkhozbank, among others. The EU also sanctioned the Moscow Exchange.
The EU also placed several oil refineries under restrictions, including the Kuibyshev, Novokuibyshev, Anzhersky, and Severny Kuzbass refineries.
A press release from the Council of the European Union calls the package “the largest batch of individual listings of the last four years.”
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