(AGENPARL) – mer 08 marzo 2023 Dear All,
Please find attached press release in respect of Case T-212/22 | Prigozhina v Council:
The General Court annuls the restrictive measures applied to Ms Violetta Prigozhina, mother of Mr Yevgeniy Prigozhin, in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine
Even if the latter is responsible for actions undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, the link between Ms Prigozhina and her son established at the time of the adoption of the contested acts is based solely on their family relationship and is therefore not sufficient to justify her inclusion on the contested lists
Kind regards,
Natassa Mouzouki
Press and Information Unit, Ireland / Malta
Communication Department
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Testo Allegato:
Communications Directorate

Press and Information Unit

curia.europa.eu

PRESS RELEASE No
43
/23

Luxembourg,
8

March

2023

Judgment of the General Court

in Case T
–
212/22 | Prigozhina

v Council

The General Court annuls the restrictive measures applied to
Ms

Prigozhina, mother of
Mr

Yevgeniy Prigozhin, in the context
of Russiaâ??s war
against Ukraine

Even if

t
he latter is responsible for

actions undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence
Ms

Prigozhina and her son established at the time of the adoption of the
conteste
d acts

is ba
sed solely on their family

relationship and is therefore not sufficient to justify her inclusion
on the contested lists

In order to respond to the illegal annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by Russia in March 2014 and to
Rus
siaâ??s d
estabilising actions in e
astern Ukraine, the Council of the European Union adopted, on
17

March

2014
, a
series of restrictive measures.
1

It provided, inter alia, for restrictions to prevent the entry into, or transit through,
the territories of the Member

States of certain persons responsible, inter alia, for actions or policies which
undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. In addition, the Council
froze their funds and their economic resources. Likewise, i
t i
mposed similar penalties on

the persons, entities or
bodies associated with them.

Since the beginning of Russiaâ??s war against Ukraine in February 2022, the Council has, in its acts of
23

February

2022,

2

inter alia added members of the government, banks
, businesspersons and Members of the State Duma of
the Federal Assembly to the lists of
those subject to
restrictive measures. In that context, it added the name of
Ms

Mr

Yevgeniy Prigozhin,
responsible for the deployment

of Wagner Group
mercenaries in Ukraine and for benefitting from large public contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defence
following the illegal annexation of Crim
ea by Russia and occupation of e
astern Ukraine by Russia
–
backed
separatists. According to t
he Council,
Ms

Prigozhina is the owner of Concord Management and Consulting LLC,
which belongs to the Concord group, founded and owned until 2019 by her son. She is also the owner of other
undertakings with links to her son. In the Councilâ??s view, she

has

therefore supported actions and policies which
undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

1
Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP of
17

March

2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial
integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (
OJ 2014
L

78
,
p.

16
) and
Council
Regulation (EU)
No

2
69/2014
of 17

March 2014
concerning
restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence

of Ukraine (
OJ 2014 L

78
,
p.

6
).

2

Council Decisi
on (CFSP) 2022/265 of
23

February

2022 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions
undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ

2022 L

42I, p.

98), and Council Implementing
Regulation (EU) 2022/
260 of 23

February 2022 implementing Regulation (EU)
No

2
69/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions
undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ

2022 L

42I, p.

3).

Communications Directorate

Press and Information Unit

curia.europa.eu

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In that context, she
has
requested that the General Court annul the contested acts in so far as they concern her.

In its judgment d
elivered today,
the General Court grants her request
. It observes, inter alia, that it is apparent
from the case file that
Ms

Prigozhina has no longer been the owner of Concord Management and Consulting since
2017, even though she had held shares in that u
ndertaking. In addition, the Council
fails to

demonstrate that she
own
ed

other undertakings with links to her son on the date of the adoption of the contested acts.

Consequently,
the

link

that would amount

to an association

between
the
two persons

establi
shed at the time
of the adoption of the contested acts and
up
on which the Council relied on that date
is based solely on their
family

relationship, which, in view of the criterion applied by the Council in the present case, the statement
of reasons on whic
h the contested acts are based and the case
–
law of the Court of Justice, is not sufficient to
justify her inclusion on the contested lists
.

NOTE:

An action for annulment seeks the annulment of acts of the institutions of the European Union that are
contrar
y to European Union law. The Member States, the European institutions and individuals may, under certain
conditions, bring an action for annulment before the Court of Justice or the General Court. If the action is well
founded, the act is annulled. The ins
titution concerned must fill any legal vacuum created by the annulment of the
act.

NOTE:

An appeal, limited to points of law only, may be brought before the Court of Justice against the decision of
the General Court within two months and ten days of notifi
cation of the decision.

Unofficial document for media use, not binding on the General Court.

The
full text

of the judgment is published on the CURIA website on the day of delivery.

P
ress conta
ct: Jacques René Zammit
â??

(+352) 4
303

335
5