Dozens of Russian oligarchs managed to get sanctions lifted: list

Some had to go to court to do this.

Dozens of Russian billionaires have managed to lift sanctions. Those who managed to get rid of the restrictions were those who severed all ties with Russia, changed their place of residence, and proved that they do not conduct business in the Russian Federation.

The RTVI publication writes that billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky challenged the sanctions together with his wife Galina and son Alexander. Race car driver Nikita Mazepin was able to prove that he is not connected with the business of his father, who owns Uralchem. We are talking about Dmitry Mazepin.

Who else can I lift sanctions through the court:

Dmitry Konov is the former head of Sibur;
Vladimir Rashevsky – former head of EuroChem;
Sergei Mndoyants is a former top manager of AFK Sistema;
Alexander Shulgin is the former head of Ozon.

In addition, some relatives of Russian businessmen have also achieved success:

Pavel Ezubov is Oleg Deripaska’s cousin;
Maya Tokareva is the daughter of the head of Transneft;
Violetta Prigozhina is the mother of the deceased founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

In addition, in 2023, the former head of Yandex, Arkady Volozh, who has lived in Israel since 2014 and made a public anti-war statement, was removed from the “black list”.

Restrictions have also been lifted against the owner of the ESN group and the RBC media holding Grigory Berezkin, the former co-owner of Northgas Farkhad Akhmedov and the sister of billionaire Alisher Usmanov, Saodat Narzieva. At the same time, Usmanov and another of his sisters, Gulbahor Ismailova, are under sanctions.

It is noted that Canada has also lifted sanctions on some Russians. Thus, the restrictions were lifted for the former first deputy chairman of Sberbank, Lev Khasis, who left the bank before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, and a couple of months later left Russia. Three former top managers of Sberbank were also lucky – Natalia Alymova, Alexandra Buriko and Sergey Maltsev.

Income of Russian oligarchs during the war

Russia’s oligarchs have reaped billions of dollars in dividends as economic uncertainty over the war eases. At least a dozen businessmen have received more than $11.3 billion for 2023 and the first quarter of this year. Many have close ties to President Vladimir Putin, and some have even been sanctioned.

Vagit Alekperov, a key shareholder and former president of oil giant PJSC Lukoil, topped the list. He received about 186 billion rubles (about $2.11 billion) in dividends.

In addition, Russian oligarchs continue to earn money in Europe despite restrictions. Sanctions legislation has a loophole that allows them to finance the military machine of the Russian Federation.

(c)UNIAN 2025