The Court of Justice of the European Union has rejected the claim by Alexander Vinokorov, son-in-law of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He had asked for the lifting of sanctions against him.
The decision to refuse the lifting was published in the official journal of the EU.
Alexander Vinokourov is a graduate of Cambridge University and is president of Marathon Group, an investment company. He is also a shareholder and a former member of the board of directors of Magnit, one of Russia’s largest food retail chains, which operates in over 4,200 locations, serving about 17 million customers every day. It has a multiformat model that includes convenience stores, drogerie, supermarkets, and pharmacies, with over 29 thousand stores in 67 Russian regions as of December 2022.
In the Court of Justice of the European Union, Vinikurov’s lawyers argued that he was no longer a member of the board of directors of Magnit as of June 30, 2022. However, the court noted that even if the applicant was not a member of Magnit’s current board, it should be noted that there is no evidence to demonstrate that through Marathon Group he is still the first and only shareholder with a significant stake in the capital of Magnit. The court also noted that the mere possession of these stakes would be enough for the company to be considered capable of influencing Magnit.
