The European Court in Luxembourg partially ruled in favour of a complaint made by Russian billionaire Arkady Rotenberg in regards to sanctions introduced against him personally after the annexation of Crimea.
The Court has recognized that sanctions against Rotenberg put in place on July 30, 2014 are unjustified. The Court did, however, support sanctions introduced on March 15, 2015. This decision was attributed to the particular wording of later sanction conditions, as clarified in early 2015. The latter sanctions will be maintained, because Rotenberg’s company – Stroygazmontazh – will take part in the construction of a bridge to Crimea, whereas, earlier, European Union authorities were only able to speculate that the billionaire had a connection to the peninsula.
The Court did not establish whether Rotenberg would be compensated for the seven months of illegal sanctions that he endured.
In his complaint, Rotenberg argued that the sanctions violated his right to private property. He asked for the sanctions to be repealed and to be compensated for the damages.
“Russian businessman Arkady Rotenberg [chose to] defend his rights in a situation where, in our view, sanctions have been illegally imposed against him and several other individuals … We are certainly glad that Mr. Rotenberg was able to defend his rights in this way,” said Vladimir Putin’s representative Dmitry Peskov.
Arkady Rotenberg became subject to European sanctions in July 2014, when his company Giprotransmost won a tender for the design of the bridge to Crimea.
The European Union also noted Rotenberg’s close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rotenberg was denied entry to the European Union and his assets in Europe were frozen.
In addition to Rotenberg, Rosneft, Vnesheconombank, VTB, Sberbank, Gazprom Neft, and pro-Kremlin television presenter Dmitry Kiselev have also chosen to challenge European sanctions against them.