Bloomberg: EU sanctions relief ‘surprises’ Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman
Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman was surprised when the EU lifted sanctions against him, a source told Bloomberg.
Despite several court victories, Fridman had “all but lost hope” that the sanctions would be lifted, the source said.
Fridman declined to comment to Bloomberg about the EU’s decision.
According to Bloomberg, Fridman was an “almost incidental beneficiary” of Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s efforts to get himself removed from the sanctions list.
After France called for sanctions against Usmanov to be lifted, Luxembourg pushed to have the restrictions on Fridman removed. Luxembourg’s move was linked to a $16 billion claim Fridman filed against the country’s authorities in 2024 over the freezing of his assets.
Bloomberg’s sources said a “complex set of relationships” between Usmanov and the leaders of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan played a decisive role in securing his removal from the sanctions list. Usmanov has close ties to Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
On September 22, the Council of the European Union removed Usmanov and Fridman from its sanctions list. The EU’s Russia sanctions list included around 3,000 individuals and entities. The list had previously been renewed every six months with the unanimous approval of all 27 EU member states.
The sanctions list was due to expire overnight on September 14–15. The previous day, representatives of EU countries agreed to extend it for only one week. EU members were divided over sanctions against Usmanov, which France and Slovakia wanted lifted. According to the Financial Times, Paris intervened on Usmanov’s behalf as part of a deal with Azerbaijan to secure the release of prisoners.
EU representatives have now agreed to extend the sanctions list for three years. The three-year extension was a condition of the deal, under which sanctions against the two businessmen were lifted in exchange for renewing the list for that period.
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