EU court revokes some sanctions against Russia’s Rotenberg

BRUSSELS, Nov 30 (PRIME) -- The General Court of the E.U. recognized unjustified the sanctions against Russian businessman Arkady Rotenberg from July 2014 till March 2015 but upheld the penalty from March 2015 to September 2016 on Wednesday.

“By today’s judgment, the General Court partly upholds the action for annulment brought by

Mr. Rotenberg. It annuls the restrictive measures in respect of the period from July 30, 2014 to

March 14, 2015, but confirms them in respect of the period from March 15, 2015 to September 15, 2016,” according to a statement released by the court.

The statement of reasons for the sanctions over the 2014 – March 2015 period contained some assessment errors, such as a stated link between Rotenberg and Russia’s decision-makers, who destabilized the situation in Ukraine. “The reference to ‘Russian decision-makers’, without further details, is too vague and is not sufficient to justify the restrictive measures,” the court said.

The sanctions in the later period were decided to remain in place because Rotenberg is an owner of construction company Stroygazmontazh which is building a bridge to Crimea.

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