KKMP Senior Associate Elvira Khasanova provided comments to RBC regarding Dmitry Pumpyansky's victory in his dispute over EU sanctions.

The European Court has annulled the existing restrictive measures against the former owner of TMK, Dmitry Pumpyansky. An analysis of this decision is presented in an RBC article.

The EU Court concluded that the Council of the EU did not provide sufficient evidence to support the claim that Pumpyansky still meets the criteria for applying sanctions. The Court took into account that he has stepped down from his positions in TMK and “Sinara” and is no longer their beneficial owner, and therefore there are no grounds to consider him a “leading businessman” or a “businessman involved in an economic sector providing substantial revenue.”

Previously, the EU Court already stated that Pumpyansky’s compliance with the “leading businessman” criterion (criterion (g) according to the EU Regulation) had not been proven by the Council of the EU. The Court also found that the Council of the EU did not prove that Pumpyansky maintains significant influence on TMK or the Sinara Group. In its decision of September 10, 2025, the Court referred to its previous findings and applied them to the challenge of the “fifth” and “sixth” extensions of the sanctions.

Regarding the new arguments presented by the Council of the EU, the Court thoroughly examined the evidence submitted by the Council and concluded that the new evidence either does not confirm the grounds for applying criterion (g) or does not provide new information to support the Council of the EU's arguments compared to the evidence presented in the context of previous sanctions extensions.