EU seeks to strengthen sanctions against Russian oligarchs' relatives

Bloomberg reports that the European External Action Service told member states on Wednesday that it will soon present a bill to expand the legal framework for imposing restrictions on the families of Russian oligarchs.

“The proposal earned momentum after the mother of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group fighting in Ukraine, won an EU court bid to annul her inclusion on the sanctions list last week. Still, despite her victory, she’s back on the EU’s list since March 13, following the bloc’s revision of the information it has on sanctioned people, or to factor in when some of them pass away,” the journalists wrote. 

It is noted that the proposal aims to ensure that there is a strong evidence base showing that some family members received undue benefits from sanctioned oligarchs and may have helped to circumvent sanctions. The proposal establishes criteria and a legal framework that will allow sanctions to be imposed on family members of the individual.

• As reported earlier, the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, earned at least USD 250 million from oil, gas, diamonds and gold production in Syria and Africa despite sanctions.

• Later, the European Union's general court lifted the EU restrictions on Violetta Prigozhina, the mother of the Wagner Group founder.