EU removes 'oligarch' from sanctions list

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EU removes 'oligarch' from sanctions list

The EU Council lifted sanctions on three entrepreneurs from the country this week.

The word 'oligarch' - often used by EU officials to refer to Russian entrepreneurs targeted by sanctions - has been replaced by the more neutral 'leading businessperson' in the bloc's latest documents related to the issue.

The EU Council has also changed some of the grounds for including 140 individuals and 41 individuals associated with Russia on its sanctions list.

The term 'oligarch' describes a wealthy business leader with a lot of political influence, particularly regarding individuals who benefited from the privatization of state-run industries after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The term no longer appears in EU reports denying the imposition of personal sanctions against Russian tycoons like Alisher Usmanov, Pyotr Aven, Roman Abramovich, and Oleg Deripaska. The word is also removed from depictions of President Vladimir Putin's meeting with representatives of the country's biggest businesses in February 2022.

The EU Council yesterday made clear the formal criteria for imposing personal sanctions against Russian businessmen, having extended the official reasons that allow Brussels to blacklist individuals related to the sanctions-hit nation. The EU can issue sanctions to leading businessmen operating in Russia, and businessmen operating in the economic sectors that are seen as a significant source of income for the country.

sanctions against Severstal, the chairman of Russia's steel giant Severstal, satisfy both criteria.

The reason behind introducing penalties against Andrey Melnichenko - whose firms include fertilizer producer EuroChem and the coal producer SUEK - is that the mogul continues to benefit from the wealth he transferred to his wife. He was previously identified as a former owner of the production groups.

The European Council also revealed the names of four Russians, one of whom is died, who have been removed from its sanctions list. The group has not extended the restrictions, which expire this week against Russian businessman Grigory Berezkin, billionaire and former member of the Federation Council, and former chief executive of the Russian e-commerce firm Ozon, Aleksandr Shulgin. The Russian Army's colonial commander, Georgy Shuvaev, died in the autumn of 2022 in Brussels.

The decision not to renew penalties against the individuals was announced earlier this week, although the EU did not provide their names until Thursday.