EU Delists Usmanov and Fridman: The Bloc Blinked First
Together their estimated combined net worth exceeds $20 billion.
EU Delists Usmanov and Fridman: The Bloc Blinked First
The European Union has removed two of Russia's most prominent oligarchs — Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman — from its sanctions list, in a move that Ireland's EU presidency described as "a difficult compromise" but which critics will read as something closer to a capitulation.
The delisting comes as the EU faces a hard deadline on its sanctions renewal framework, with member states unable to reach unanimous agreement on extending all designations. Usmanov, whose assets were frozen following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Fridman, co-founder of Alfa-Bank, are among the wealthiest individuals to have appeared on the EU's restrictive measures list. Together their estimated combined net worth exceeds $20 billion.
The optics are poor and the timing is worse. With the war in Ukraine unresolved and ceasefire negotiations stalled, the EU has sent a signal — however qualified — that its sanctions architecture has a pressure point, and that sustained legal and diplomatic effort by well-resourced targets can exploit it. According to The Guardian, the decision reflects a broader fracture within the bloc over how far economic pressure on Moscow can be maintained.
What happens now is the question nobody in Brussels wants to answer aloud. If Usmanov and Fridman are out, every other name on the list has just been given a roadmap.
The door does not close — it rotates.
