THE FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR OF YANDEX IS CHALLENGING THE EU SANCTIONS IN COURT

Tigran Khudaverdyan filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg against the EU Council on June 7. In his demand, he called the arguments given by the EU insufficient to consider them grounds for including him in the list of persons against whom sanctions have been imposed. Adding that they are not supported by reliable and convincing evidence.

Khudaverdyan believes that the disputed actions are based on an unconfirmed factual basis and on implausible grounds. Further, the applicant refers to the violation by the Council of his rights to judicial protection, which is expressed in shifting the burden of proving the circumstances of the case to him without the existence of grounds for that. 

Based on these arguments, the applicant claims that these violations exclude the possibility of adequate consideration by the courts of the legality of his inclusion and preservation in the lists of persons subject to restrictive measures.

Khudaverdyan also denied support for the actions of the Russian authorities in Ukraine, explaining that the activities of Yandex do not bring significant income to the Russian authorities and does not take actions to conceal from Russian citizens relevant information about the military special operation in Ukraine.

Among other things, the applicant mentioned the discrimination and disproportionality of the sanctions imposed, which also contradicts the purpose pursued by the Council.

Recall that Council Regulation (EU) 2022/427 of March 15, 2022 imposed sanctions on a number of persons, among whom was Khudaveryan.

Thus, charges are brought against him that on February 24, 2022, he attended a meeting of persons close to the President of the Russian Federation for the purpose of discussing an action plan within the framework of sanctions pressure, and the fact of his presence at this meeting confirms his support for the state policy towards Ukraine and the military special operation itself. 

In addition, according to the Council, Khudaveryan's activities as a representative of Yandex's top management bring substantial income to the Russian authorities.