Roman Abramovich loses legal fight to overturn EU sanctions

Roman Abramovich has lost his legal bid to overturn sanctions imposed by the European Union over his role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Former Chelsea owner had filed a lawsuit at the EU's general court against the European Union Council, which imposed the punishment on the 57-year-old oligarch in 2022 as part of measures targeting Russia and Vladimir Putin's close allies.

Abramovich insists he 'in no way benefited from' Putin's 2022 invasion.

But the court said on Wednesday: 'The General Court dismisses the action brought by Abramovich, thereby upholding the restrictive measures taken against him.

'The Council did not in fact err in its assessment by deciding to include then maintain Abramovich's name on the lists at issue, in the light of his role in the Evraz group and, in particular, its parent company.'

When it sanctioned Abramovich, the 27-nation bloc said he 'had privileged access' to Mr Putin and 'maintained very good relations with him,' allowing the tycoon to 'maintain his considerable wealth'.

According to the EU, Abramovich's economic activities provided substantial revenues to the Russian government.

'He is a major shareholder of the steel group Evraz, which is one of Russia's largest taxpayers,' the European Council said at the time.

'He has therefore been benefiting from Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea or the destabilisation of Ukraine.'

Abramovich, whose claim for compensation was also dismissed, can appeal against the ruling.

In a statement on Wednesday, he said he was disappointed by the loss of a legal challenge to overturn sanctions imposed on him by the European Union.

'Although we are disappointed with today's ruling, we welcome that the court did not take up several