The EU General Court on June 12 rejected Russian investment fund VEB.RF's application to be removed from the bloc's Russia sanctions regime, according to an unofficial translation. The European Council sanctioned the financial institution for helping undermine the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine and providing material support to "Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea or the destabilization of Eastern Ukraine."
The EU General Court on June 12 rejected Syrian businessman Issam Shammout's challenge to his designation under the bloc's Syria sanctions regime. Shammout, an executive for airline company Cham Wings Airlines and the Shammout Group, was sanctioned due to his position as a "leading businessperson operating in Syria."
The EU General Court on May 29 dismissed a suit from Belarusian Airlines AAT challenging the validity of its 2021 sanctions designation.
The EU General Court on May 29 annulled the European Council's sanctions designation of Russian businessperson Farkhad Akhmedov, founder of Russian gas equipment supplier Tansley Trading and minority shareholder of Northgas. The court said that the council "made an error of assessment" in sanctioning Akhmedov "by considering that the applicant was a leading businessperson involved in economic sectors which provided a substantial source of revenue to" the Russian government.
A Russian court based in St. Petersburg on May 18 seized nearly $760 million of assets belonging to UniCredit, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, according to the Financial Times. A subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom, RusChemAlliance, had told the court that the three western banks must pay bank guarantees under a contract with German firm Linde. RusChemAlliance's contract with Linde, which concerned the construction of a liquified natural gas processing plant and production facility in St. Petersburg, was paused due to EU sanctions on the Russian company.
Syrian businessperson Issam Anbouba remains subject to EU sanctions after the EU General Court on May 15 sustained his listing based on criteria issued in 2023 but annulled the criteria issued in 2022, according to an unofficial translation.
The EU General Court on May 15 rejected the Russian Direct Investment Fund's (RDIF's) challenge to the bloc's prohibition on investing in projects financed by the fund.
A recent U.K. Supreme Court ruling could have implications for how certain sanctions-related payment issues are treated under force majeure clauses in contracts.
The U.K. High Court of Justice on May 10 made permanent a court order blocking sanctioned Russian entity VEB from taking a dispute with Barclays Bank to an arbitration court in Russia. The court rejected VEB's claim that British sanctions "frustrated" an arbitration agreement between the parties.
Estonian Bank LHV Pank said it plans to contest in court a $322,000 fine by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit for violating Estonia's International Sanctions Act."LHV Pank does not agree with the FIU’s resolution and plans to contest it in court," the bank said. "LHV Pank takes regulatory compliance very seriously and has put in place all necessary solutions to meet all due diligence obligations related to financial sanctions."