The EU Court has ruled to annul the sanctions imposed on Russian businessman Mikail Gutseriev. The decision was made on October 22.
Earlier, the EU had placed Gutseriev on its sanctions list due to his business ties in Belarus, his support for the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, and Belarus’s involvement in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The sanctions included asset freezes and a travel ban within EU member states.
However, the court concluded that the EU Council failed to provide up-to-date and sufficiently convincing evidence that, at the time the sanctions were renewed in February 2024, Gutseriev still had significant business interests in Belarus, benefited from the Lukashenko regime, or actively supported it.
The court stressed that the EU Council is required to carry out an updated assessment of the situation and cannot rely on outdated information when extending sanctions. As a result, the restrictive measures against Mikhail Gutseriev were declared invalid.
The court ordered the Council of the European Union to cover the legal costs.
This decision means that Gutseriev’s name must be removed from the EU sanctions lists that had been in effect since February 2024. However, it should be noted that in February 2025, the Council introduced amendments to its decision regarding Gutseriev, which were not part of this court proceeding.