EU declines to remove sanctions against Russian oligarch Usmanov.

An EU court dismissed the appeal of Russian-Uzbek oligarch Alisher Usmanov to be removed from the EU sanctions list on Feb.

7. The EU imposed sanctions against Usmanov and other top Russian oligarchs and officials in February 2022, shortly after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the 2022 decision to impose sanctions, Usmanov was described as a "pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin."

"He has been referred to as one of Putin's favorite oligarchs." Usmanov has a variety of business interests across different industries, and top Russian officials have "benefited from the personal use of luxurious residences controlled by Usmanov." "Therefore, he actively supported materially or financially Russian decision-makers responsible for the (illegal) annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of Ukraine," the decision concluded.

The EU also ruled against an appeal from former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov to be removed from the sanctions list.

Shuvalov, who served as deputy prime minister from 2012-2018, was described by the U.K. in 2022 as "a core part of Putin's inner circle." At the time, the U.K. said he owned two luxury apartments in London worth a combined total of 11 million pounds (£13.9 million).    

Russian oligarch skirts sanctions, buys new jet via Kazakhstan

A company associated with billionaire Oleg Deripaska, the Moscow-based firm Arsenal, bought a Falcon 7X jet from the Kazakh carrier Irtysh-Air and imported it to Russia in February 2023.