EU court annulled Council’s Pumpyanskiy decision on eve of Russia sanctions rollover

Published on 11/09/2025 - 18:25 GMT+2

The EU General Court has annulled EU Council decisions from September 2024 and March 2025 sanctioning Russian businessman Dmitry Pumpyanskiy, soon earlier a rollover determination connected sanctions is owed from the body.

Pumpyanskiy is simply a semipermanent nonmigratory of Geneva who antecedently held positions successful companies formerly owned by his father, Russian businessman Dmitry Pumpyanskiy.

He was primitively included successful sanctions lists connected the ground of positions helium held successful his father's companies, but is present listed nether the EU’s 2023 amended sanctions criteria, which see "close household members who payment from listed individuals".

The General Court annulled the Council’s authorisation determination successful 2023, noting procedural flaws and insufficient justification since Pumpyanskiy had resigned from his firm positions. The Council did not entreaty the decision, but subsequently renewed its sanctions determination against Pumpyanskiy successful mid-March this year.

The Court has erstwhile again rejected the Council’s reliance connected historical firm roles to found contiguous qualification nether the listing criteria.

Judges held that the Council could not respect “the specified fact” that Pumpyanskiy held applicable enforcement positions a twelvemonth earlier the sanctions decisions arsenic capable to warrant listing him arsenic a idiosyncratic providing worldly oregon fiscal enactment to the Russian Government.

Court determination precedes Council sanctions rollover

The ruling landed days earlier the EU’s Russia sanctions are scheduled for rollover by the EU Council connected 15 September 2025.

“Any progressive relisting connected fundamentally the aforesaid record—after 3 General Court annulments—would rise superior rule-of-law concerns astir the effectiveness of judicial oversight successful EU sanctions and the extortion of cardinal freedoms,” Pumpyanskiy’s lawyers told Euronews.

In April a root acquainted with the contented told Euronews that the EU Council was mulling the EU General Court 2nd annulment decision related to Pumpyanskiy and considering whether it needed to instrumentality enactment connected it.

Pumpyanskiy’s lawyers person besides brought a assertion for damages earlier the General Court against the Council for alleged harm caused by the sanctions.

Speaking to Euronews earlier this year, Pumpyanskiy related his acquisition of sanctions.

"The archetypal happening is that your finances are affected. The banks artifact your accounts. That’s the archetypal stage; aft that, different problems follow: you’re chopped from each the basal services that everyone needs, particularly mobile phones, home internet,  insurance, cars, etc., so, spot by bit, regular beingness became highly analyzable for me."

 The Council has been approached for comment.