The EU no longer calls businessmen under sanctions oligarchs

The EU no longer calls businessmen under sanctions oligarchs

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The European Union no longer calls Russian businessmen included in the sanctions lists as oligarchs. Now the richest Russians, who, among other things, are considered to be involved in supporting the war with Ukraine, are designated as leading businessmen.

In total, 140 Russian-related individuals and more than 40 companies are included in them.

In the official journal of the European Union for April 2022, where the names of Russians included in the fifth package of sanctions are published, the word “oligarch” occurs 16 times, the TV channel Nastoyaschee Vremya draws attention. Oligarchs in the list, in particular, are called Vyacheslav Kantor, Alisher Usmanov and Oleg Deripaska. In subsequent packages, for example, Petr Aven, Roman Abramovich, Viktor Rashnikov and others are called that.

The word “oligarch” was also removed from the description of Vladimir Putin’s meeting with his supporters from among representatives of big business, held on February 24, 2022. If earlier it was a “meeting with oligarchs in the Kremlin”, now it is a “meeting with leading businessmen in the Kremlin”.

The only member of the sanctions list, in relation to which the word “oligarch” is still used, is top manager Vladimir Rashevsky. In the description justifying the introduction of sanctions against him, Rashevsky is called “a member of a narrow circle of oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin.”

Earlier, several Russian businessmen tried to challenge their fall under European sanctions in court. At the same time, Viktor Rashnikov also claimed that he was not an oligarch, but the EU court did not accept his claim.

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