The ruling does not lift all EU restrictions on Oleg Tkach, who is separately challenging their March 2026 extension<\/p>\n
The EU has failed to provide sufficient evidence to keep a former Russian official on its sanctions blacklist, the bloc\u2019s General Court ruled on Wednesday. The decision came a day after the EU removed two Russian businessmen from the list as part of a deal to extend restrictions on thousands of others.
\nThe court annulled the September 2024 and September 2025 extensions of sanctions against former Russian Senator Oleg Tkach, who represented Kaliningrad Region in the Federation Council from 2004 to 2022. He was also involved in publishing, founding and chairing Olma Media Group.
\nThe EU first sanctioned Tkach in March 2022 over his vote to ratify treaties with the Donetsk and Lugansk People\u2019s Republics, which later became part of Russia following referendums rejected by Ukraine and most Western countries. The case centered on whether the EU Council had grounds to keep extending the restrictions after Tkach left office.
\nAccording to Wednesday\u2019s ruling, the Council failed to demonstrate that Tkach retained close ties to Russian authorities. The court also found that his failure to publicly oppose Russia\u2019s military operation in Ukraine did not, by itself, constitute continued support for the authorities.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
An inconvenient truth: What the EU won\u2019t admit about why it de-sanctioned Alisher Usmanov<\/p>\n
Brussels had also cited Tkach\u2019s publishing background, including his links to Olma Media Group and textbook publisher Prosveshcheniye. However, the court found the evidence insufficient to establish his current role or influence at the companies.
\nThe ruling does not affect the EU\u2019s most recent sanctions extension from March 2026, which Tkach is challenging separately. He argues that condemnation based on his former Senate position is outdated and that the Council\u2019s evidence is unreliable and lacks a \u201csound factual basis.\u201d He has also argued that the measures are disproportionate.
\nA day before Wednesday\u2019s ruling, the EU agreed to remove Russian businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from its sanctions list. Both had previously mounted legal challenges related to EU restrictions, while Fridman has also filed a multibillion-dollar arbitration claim against Luxembourg.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: EU drops Usmanov from sanctions list after infighting<\/p>\n
Their removal came as part of a compromise to renew sanctions against around 3,000 other individuals and entities for three years, until September 2029, replacing the bloc\u2019s usual six-month renewal cycle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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