The Court of Justice of the European Union rejected part of the request for the lifting of sanctions against Dmitry Konov from Russia.
Dmitry Konov has been under EU sanctions since March 9, 2022.
Dmitry Konov is a well-known Russian businessman who led SIBUR Holding from 2006 to 2012. Sibur Holdings is one of the largest integrated petrochemical companies in Russia. In 2024, the net profit of Sibir for the first nine months was $1.4 billion.
In March 2022, Dmitry Konov resigned from his positions as Chairman of the Board of Directors of SIBUR, as well as from all other positions held by him at the company and its subsidiaries.
The materials of the court and the decision, which was issued on December 11, 2024, it says that Dmitry Konov, on February 24, 2022, took part in a meeting of influential businessmen in the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the impact of decisions to be made after Western sanctions. The fact that he was invited to take part in this meeting indicates that he belonged to a close circle of influential businessmen and women close to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. In January 2023, he was appointed by President Putin as a member of the Supervisory Board of the Russian Science Foundation.
In court, Konov argued that SIBUR was not closely linked to the Russian government and that the company was not a significant source of income for Russia. He also claimed that he was not an influential businessman and did not control or influence SIBUR Holdings. Konov further claimed that he had nothing to do with the actions of the government in Ukraine and was not an oligarch.
The Court of Justice of the European Union decided that Dmitry Konov’s name should be removed from Council Decision 2022/1530 of September 14, 2022, Council Regulation 2022/1529 of September 14, 2022, Council Decision 2023/572 of March 13, 2023 and Council Regulation 2023/571 of March 13, 2023.
However, other decisions regarding sanctions against the businessman remain in force. In addition, the court refused to compensate the businessman for moral damages, which he assessed at 500,000 euros.
