By Andrew Gray and Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS, Sept 21 (Reuters) – The European Union was poised on Monday to lift sanctions on Russia-linked billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman under a deal to ensure thousands of other individuals and organisations remain sanctioned, diplomats said.
The proposed deal, which still needs approval from all EU governments, emerged after France and Luxembourg each pushed for one of the men to be removed from the bloc’s sanctions list, apparently for domestic reasons, to the anger of some other EU countries and Ukraine.
Under the deal negotiated by EU ambassadors in Brussels, the two men would no longer be subject to sanctions imposed over Moscow’s war in Ukraine but sanctions on some 3,000 other Russia-linked individuals and entities would be renewed for three years.
To the surprise of many of its EU partners, France this month joined Slovakia in pushing for sanctions to be lifted on Russian-Uzbek businessman Usmanov. Luxembourg then demanded the same treatment for Fridman, a Russian, according to diplomats.
France made its move after coming under what it said was pressure from Azerbaijan, as the country has detained at least two French nationals, three European diplomats told Reuters last week. A senior Azerbaijani diplomat on Friday rejected those assertions.
France’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Pascal Confavreux, said last week that France’s position on Usmanov — who made his name as a metals and mining mogul — was a matter of national security and in response to a request from partners.
The package deal was sent to EU capitals for written approval on Monday evening, according to the diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
EU IMPOSED SANCTIONS AFTER 2022 INVASION OF UKRAINE
The EU imposed sanctions,- which involve a ban on travel to the bloc and a freeze on assets held in the EU,- on both men in 2022, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
At the time, the EU described Usmanov as having “particularly close ties” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and said Fridman had “supported actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine”.
Both men have disputed the cases against them and taken legal action to try to have the sanctions removed.
Fridman is claiming $16 billion from Luxembourg in a case that has gone to arbitration. EU diplomats said Luxembourg argued that its case to maintain EU sanctions on Fridman could be weakened if sanctions were lifted on Usmanov.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi urged the EU not to ease any sanctions on Russia, saying attacks on Ukraine had killed 288 people and wounded 1,781 this month alone.
“It is immoral and self-destructive to let Russian businesses and oligarchs escape the consequences of a war they have never renounced,” he said on X. “Ukraine is under attack right now. Europe cannot treat Russia’s enablers as friends. Sanctions must stay. Full stop.”
Usmanov’s net worth is estimated at $16.6 billion and Fridman’s at $10 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
BALTIC STATES AND OTHERS OPPOSED LIFTING OF SANCTIONS
Multiple European nations including the Baltic states had opposed lifting sanctions on the two men, arguing it signalled the EU was open to blackmail.
“It would send a lot of signals, and all of them are bad signals,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“I think this is a really dangerous path, and we should rethink where we are.”
However, opponents appeared willing to accept the deal to get the necessary unanimity to renew the sanctions on the thousands of other Russian-linked individuals and organisations, diplomats said.
In a concession to those nations, the renewal period of 36 months is much longer than the usual 6 or 12 months.
(Reporting by Andrew Gray, Philip Blenkinsop; Additional reporting by John Irish in New York; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Cynthia Osterman)
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