Evgeny Shvidler hopes to speak to the British court
Longtime partner of Roman Abramovich, billionaire Yevgeny Shvidler, filed a lawsuit in a London court to lift personal sanctions.
The businessman calls the sanctions imposed by mistake and claims that he has been experiencing “serious difficulties” since falling under the restrictions. This is the first such lawsuit in a UK court in more than a year since the start of the “military special operation”.
Billionaire and longtime partner of Roman Abramovich Yevgeny Shvidler has filed a lawsuit in a London court in an attempt to challenge the imposition of UK personal sanctions against him. This was reported by Bloomberg, which read the statement of claim. Shvidler’s lawyers filed it in February. This is the first such lawsuit from a person who fell under British sanctions since the beginning of Russia’s “military special operation” * in Ukraine, the agency noted.
The lawsuit alleges that the UK government made “material errors” in assessing the relationship between Shvidler and Abramovich, Bloomberg wrote. Shvidler claims he has been experiencing “serious difficulties” since being placed on the sanctions list in March 2022. The plaintiff asked the court to reverse the decision, which he considers “illegal”. The British government has indicated that Shvidler maintained “close ties” with Abramovich for several decades and benefited from those ties.
The lawsuit will be heard within the next 28 days, with Shvidler’s lawyers seeking an “expedited hearing,” Bloomberg claims. In the UK, sanctioned individuals can only go to court after first asking for an internal administrative review of the decision, the agency said.
The UK has imposed more personal sanctions than the EU or the US, Bloomberg noted. In March 2022, the sanctions against Shvidler were already relaxed: the government lifted transport restrictions just a day after they were applied.
Yevgeny Shvidler’s fortune as of March 3 is $1.7 billion, follows from the Forbes Real-Time rating, which is updated in real time depending on quotes. Shvidler’s key assets are a stake in Evraz and investments in Norilsk Nickel, according to the American Forbes. The entrepreneur was born in Moscow, in 1994 he received American citizenship. Bloomberg writes that Shvidler also has British citizenship and was “one of the few sanctioned businessmen who claim they never had a Russian passport.”
