EU lifts sanctions on Wagner boss’s mother because ‘relationship not sufficient justification’

The Court of Justice of the European Union has lifted sanctions on the mother of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Russia’s Wagner Group military company, saying her relationship to her son was ‘not sufficient to justify’ the restrictions placed on her since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

‘Despite the fact that [Yevgeny Prigozhin] is responsible for actions that have undermined the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, Ms. Prigozhina’s link with her son, which was established at the time of the adoption of the restrictive measures, is based only on their relationship, and is therefore not sufficient to justify her inclusion in the restrictive measures,’ said the court.

Following Russia’s 24 February invasion of Ukraine last year, Violetta Prigozhina, 73, was added to the bloc’s sanctions list on the grounds that she owned several undertakings with links to her son, including Concord Management and Consulting LLC.

In the 8 March judgment, the court ‘observes, inter alia, that it is apparent from the case file that Ms Prigozhina has no longer been the owner of Concord Management and Consulting since 2017, even though she had held shares in that undertaking. In addition, the Council fails to demonstrate that she owned other undertakings with links to her son on the date of the adoption of the contested acts.’

https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2023-03/cp230043en.pdf