The boss’s mother Wagner Russian mercenary group has won its appeal against the European Union’s decision to include it on the ‘black list’ of leaders sanctioned for supporting the war in Ukraine. The General Court of the European Union (TGUE) has ruled this Wednesday that Violetta Prigozhina (83 years old) cannot be punished solely for being the progenitor of the Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The ruling sets a preceding so that other relatives of high Russian political and military officials, as well as oligarchs close to Vladimir Putinthey can knock down the EU sanctions.
The Twenty-seven approved including Violetta Prigozhina on their ‘black list’ on February 23, 2022. Among the arguments used by the EU to sanction her were that “she is the mother of Yevgeny Prigozhin and the owner of Concord Management and Consulting LLCwhich belongs to the Concord Group, founded by his son and owned by him until 2019″, as well as “other companies linked to his son”.
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“She is associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is responsible for deploying Wagner Group mercenaries in Ukraine and benefiting from large public contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and separatist occupation of eastern Ukraine. backed by Russia.Therefore, has supported acts and policies that undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine“, underlined the note published by the EU Official Journal.
In her appeal before the TGUE, Violetta Prigozhina claimed that the EU had not justified how she influenced Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine. She also did not specify which companies she owns are linked to her son, nor how being her son’s partner in companies makes her a supporter of the war in Ukraine.
The affected party also maintains that she only owned Concord Management and Consulting temporarily, between October 20, 2008 and February 28, 2017, to guarantee the continuity of the company for reasons related to the health of her son, and that played no direct role in their exploitation.
Violetta Prigozhina He also denied that his son was responsible for the deployment of the Wagner Group mercenaries in Ukraine.something that Yevgeny Prigozhin himself has later recognized.
In his sentence this Wednesday, The TGUE agrees with the mother of the head of the Wagner group and annuls the sanctions against it, which consist of the freezing of its assets in the EU and the prohibition of entry into community territory.
The ruling confirms that Violetta Prigozhina no longer owns Concord Management and Consulting since 2017, although she had been the owner of certain parts. Besides, the EU “has not shown that he owned other companies related to his son on the date of the adoption of the contested acts”.
Consequently, the decision to sanction her “is only based on kinship” with the head of the Wagner group, which according to the TGUE “cannot justify” the inclusion of Violetta Prigozhina on the black list of those sanctioned for the war in Ukraine.
