Businessman Igor Rotenberg, the son of Arkady Rotenberg, has never proven in court that he does not benefit from government contracts.
The European Court of Justice has rejected the claim of Russian businessman Igor Rotenberg, who appealed EU sanctions imposed on him in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. This is stated in the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, which was adopted on Wednesday, June 19, reports Deutsche Welle.
Igor Rotenberg, the son of Putin’s friend Arkady Rotenberg, has been under EU sanctions since September 2022. In November 2022, he appealed the sanctions to the Court of Justice of the EU.
EU authorities indicated that thanks to his past and present positions in leading Russian companies with large government contracts, as well as close ties with Russian President Putin, Igor Rotenberg “continues to benefiting from the Russian leaders and the Russian government responsible for the annexation of Crimea.”
At the same time, his father Arkady Rotenberg and Vladimir Putin are included in the list of EU sanctions related to actions that undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
The EU Court examined the plaintiff’s arguments that he no longer owns shares in the companies mentioned in the decision to impose sanctions. Igor Rotenberg also argued that receiving government contracts does not indicate any undue benefit from the actions of the Russian authorities, and that his connections with his father are exclusively related.
In its decision, the Court of the EU found that the plaintiff’s evidence that the fact of receiving important government contracts does not allow us to conclude that he contributed or supported the actions of the Russian Federation is not credible.
“A sufficient basis is that they benefit from one of the ‘Russian decision-makers’ or the ‘government’ responsible for what is happening, and there is no need to establish a connection between the benefits these individuals enjoy and the annexation of Crimea or the destabilization of Eastern Ukraine,” the court’s decision said.
The court referred to its decision in Arkady Rotenberg’s lawsuit dated November 30, 2016, which left his assets in the EU frozen.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.