Financial Times: EU proposal would unfreeze Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s assets and lift his travel ban while keeping him on the sanctions list

Ireland and the European External Action Service have proposed keeping Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov on the sanctions list while unfreezing his assets and allowing him to enter the European Union, European diplomats told the Financial Times.The compromise is meant to allow the EU to extend its Russia sanctions list.On September 14, EU ambassadors agreed to extend the sanctions list — which covers 3,000 individuals and entities — by just one week. The list comes up for renewal every six months, and renewing it requires the agreement of all 27 member states. This time, a six-month extension failed over disagreements about the restrictions on Usmanov. Slovakia and France demanded that the sanctions against him be lifted, and the bloc’s other members did not back the move.According to the Financial Times, Germany, Italy, and several other countries have signaled that they could accept France’s demand. Other European governments are skeptical of using EU sanctions to serve one country’s goals. A third group flatly opposes any step it believes would weaken the sanctions regime and set a dangerous precedent.“If member states start unpacking sanctions and taking off sharp edges, it creates a legal precedent which would be very useful for other oligarchs fighting EU sanctions in court,” one diplomat said.Commenting on Paris’s demand, a French diplomatic source told EUobserver: “We [France] have a specific national security issue and wish to respond positively to our international partners, who are approaching us regarding Mr. Usmanov.” Those partners are Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan, where Usmanov was born; as early as March, they lobbied to have the businessman removed from the sanctions list. The Financial Times said Paris took up Usmanov’s cause as part of a prisoner release deal with Azerbaijan. According to EUobserver, that deal may involve the return home of French businessman Martin Ryan, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Baku.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.