The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has ruled to remove EU sanctions imposed against Russian businessman Dmitry Pumpyansky, as well as his wife and son, Galina and Alexander Pumpyansky, due to the conflict in Ukraine. The decisions have been overturned, the judge announced, speaking about all three claims.
In addition, the court ordered that the EU Council must pay the plaintiffs’ legal costs. According to the court files, Dmitry Pumpyansky raised a plea of illegality of the contested listing criteria as infringing the EU Treaties as well as the rule of law relating to their application in respect of the applicant.
The plaintiff also presented four legal arguments, including an alleged infringement of the applicant’s right to be heard under the Charter of Fundamental Rights, an error in assessment, and the infringement of the obligation to state reasons laid down in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Similar arguments were presented by two other plaintiffs, Galina and Alexander Pumpyansky. Considering this, the EU Court found the EU Council’s assertion about Pumpyansky’s involvement in actions to destabilize the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine unsubstantiated.