An economic freeze on the driver in response to the Ukraine invasion wasn’t justified merely because he was the son of Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, judges said.
ADVERTISEMENTEU sanctions imposed on Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin have been quashed by the EU courts in a judgment released today (20 March).
In March 2022, Mazepin was barred from entering the EU and had funds frozen in retaliation for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
His team, Haas, also promptly canceled his driving contract, as well as its sponsorship deal with Uralkali, a Russian fertiliser company owned by Mazepin’s oligarch father Dmitry.
“The association between Mr Nikita Mazepin and his father is in no way established from an economic or capital perspective” by EU legislators, the EU’s General Court said, adding that simple family connections aren’t enough grounds to impose sanctions.
The EU has sought to impose trade restrictions on those linked to the Moscow regime as retaliation for its belligerence. Over the weekend Russian President Vladimir Putin held what EU officials called “pseudo-elections” for which he was the only possible victor.
Most recently the bloc agreed to sanction 30 officials over the death in prison of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
In November, EU judges upheld sanctions against Dmitry Mazepin – arguing that the chemicals magnate was clearly in President Vladimir Putin’s close circle. That ruling is now under appeal at the higher-tier Court of Justice.
In a post today (20 March) on social network X, EU foreign affairs commissioner Josep Borrell announced his plan to use windfall revenues from hundreds of billions of euros of Russian central bank assets to support Ukraine.
Peter Stano, a spokesperson for the European Commission, told Euronews it was “carefully analysing the order and its legal and practical implications”, and that the EU takes evolving case-law into account to ensure listings meet legal requirements.
“For the time being, restrictive measures against Nikita Mazepin remain in place,” Stano added, as judges had only reviewed listing decisions taken most recently in September 2023.
Counsel for Nikita Mazepin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
UPDATE (20 March, 18:10 CET): adds comment from Peter Stano.