The Russian billionaire, Mikhail Gutseriev, won a case against the Council of the European Union in the European Court of Justice.
The EU Court of Justice has decided to remove the extension of EU sanctions issued in February 2024 from Russian billionaire Mikhail Gutseriev.
Gutseriev was sanctioned by the EU sanctions for supporting President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. According to the EU, Gutseriev’s companies supplied raw materials to Belarus during the energy crisis in 2019-2020 between Russia and Belarus. The EU also said that Gutseriev owned a residence that de facto belonged to Lukashenko.
Gutseriev challenged the sanctions before the EU court, protesting their extension in February 23, 2024.
His lawyers argued :
– that since June 1, 22, he no longer had any business interests in Belorussia.
– Gutseriev is not the chairman of the Board of Directors or a shareholder of Mospromstroy JSC, Safmar Industrial and Financial Group JSC or Project Grad LLC.
– As for his business interests in commercial real estate, namely the Renaissance Hotel in Minsk and the business center and airport terminal mentioned in the reasons for the sanctions, he stated that these assets no longer belong to him.
However, according to the court materials, Mikhail Gutseriev’s name still on the list of EU sanctions until February 28th, 2026, in accordance with a decision made by the Council of the European Union on February 24th, 2025.
