The Court of the European Union (EU) satisfied the lawsuit of the ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr, canceling the sanctions imposed against them by the Council of the EU on March 4, 2021.
The courtʼs decision states that when the Yanukovych were included in the sanctions lists, the EU Council did not properly check the grounds provided by Ukraine for the introduction of restrictive measures.
The ex-presidentʼs lawyers argued that the Ukrainian courtʼs verdict against him for treason was politically motivated and procedurally unfair.
At the same time, another EU sanction decision from August 2022 applies against the Yanukovych, so they are still prohibited from using assets in the European Union and entering its territory.
In recent years, the European Union began to lift restrictions on officials from the Yanukovych presidency due to insufficient evidence against them from the Ukrainian investigation. Seven out of 18 remain on the sanctions list, including Viktor Yanukovych.
In September 2022, the Court of the European Union annulled the decisions of the Council of the European Union for 2019 and 2020, due to which the Council of the EU excluded the Yanukovych from the sanctions list.
- Russian billionaire Roman Abramovych also sued for the cancellation of EU sanctions after Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine, but he lost the lawsuit.