On October 15, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a decision to lift EU sanctions against the wife of Russian businessman Dmitry Pumpyansky.
She was added to the EU sanction list with the justification that she was the wife of a leading Russian businessperson and former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company TMK and former President and board member of Group Sinara.
In the court, Pumpyanskaya’s side stated that “she is no longer an ‘immediate family member’ of her spouse as a result of their separation and of the fact that she now lives in Dubai (United Arab Emirates); second, that she does not in any way benefit from her spouse; third, that she is financially independent of him as a result of the sale of the shares that she held in Group Sinara.”
The EU Council disputed these arguments, saying that ” they are still married … as a housewife, the applicant does not have her own resources, making it difficult to imagine how, without help from her spouse, she could maintain her standard of living in Dubai, which is commonly known to be a very expensive place to live.”
As a result, the court decided to lift Pumpyanskaya’s sanctions, which had been in effect until September 15, 2025.
In fact, it was in September when the EU court recognized the illegality of applying the definition of “leading businessperson” to Dmitry Pumpyansky, so the grounds for sanctions against him and his wife disappeared. However, the European Union extended the sanctions against Pumpyanskaya until 15 March, 26 March.
