Sergey Glandin
-
Russian oligarchs study Fridman and Usmanov cases as possible template to escape EU sanctions
After the EU removed Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from its sanctions list following lobbying by France and Luxembourg, other Russian billionaires are studying the cases as a possible precedent for their own legal challenges. The lifting was part of a compromise that extended nearly 3,000 other sanctions measures for 36 months, and coincided with Azerbaijan's pardoning of a French citizen detained on espionage charges — a connection France has not publicly acknowledged. Latvia and the UK are preparing national-level measures to limit the two oligarchs' access to Europe.