Abramovich among three oligarchs to challenge EU sanctions

Three Russian oligarchs, including Roman Abramovich, are seeking to overturn EU sanctions they have been slapped with, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) told AFP on Wednesday.

“These cases fall within the jurisdiction of the General Court,” a lower-ranked tribunal in the CJEU tasked with hearing such matters, a CJEU spokeswoman said.

The two-judge court will rule on the challenge to the “restrictive measures with regard to Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine,” she said.

The other two oligarchs alongside Abramovich trying to get the sanctions against them scrapped are Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven.

The EU measures entail travel bans and asset freezes in the EU, putting their superyachts, mansions and other properties at risk of seizure.

They were all blacklisted by the EU in February and March on grounds they had influence over, or profited from, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and were close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Abramovich was famous for owning London’s Chelsea football club, which was sold on Monday to a consortium headed by a US billionaire, Todd Boehly, for £4.25 billion (five billion euros, $5.3 billion).

Ukrainian-born Fridman, one of Russia’s richest men, and Russian-born Aven stepped down earlier this month from the LetterOne investment fund they co-founded.