Former senator of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) and shareholder of Northgas achieved in the EU court the lifting of sanctions of the Council of the European Union

Farhad Akhmedov

Businessman Farhad Akhmedov, ranked 82nd in the Russian Forbes ranking with a fortune of $1.6 billion, won a lawsuit in Luxembourg against the Council of the EU. Brussels announced the exclusion of the businessman from sanctions in September 2023.

The EU Court annulled all acts that provided for the inclusion of businessman Farhad Akhmedov in the EU sanctions lists, his lawyer William Julier told RBC. “Thus, on September 15, 2023, not only was his name removed from the list of restrictive measures by the Council itself, but now the Court has declared the decision to punish him to be illegal in the first place,” he explained.

Akhmedov, who has Russian and Azerbaijani citizenship, came under EU sanctions in April 2022. The EU justified his inclusion on the sanctions list by saying that “he is close to the Kremlin and is a leading businessman operating in sectors of the economy that provide a significant source of income” for Russia (*aggressor country). “He founded Tansley Trading, which supplied equipment to Russian gas producers, and became a minority shareholder in the Siberian oil and gas company Nort[h]gas, as well as the chairman of the board of directors of Bechtel Energy,” said Brussels.

In the summer of the same year, the entrepreneur appealed to the EU Court with a demand to lift the restrictions. He insisted that the EU Council “failed to provide specific, precise and consistent evidence that constitutes a sufficient factual basis for its inclusion on the sanctions list.” Akhmedov, in particular, disputed the claim of being “close to the Kremlin,” insisting that it was based only on the fact that he is worth more than $1 billion, and argued that he did not make his fortune thanks to the government and has repeatedly publicly criticized the authorities.

“The applicant disputes that he is a “Russian businessman working in the energy sector.” The applicant does not dispute that he founded Tansley Trading, but contends that it ceased to exist in 1999. Moreover, he does not deny that he was a minority shareholder of Northgas, but claims that in 2012 he sold all his shares in this company. The applicant disputes the EU Council’s assertion that he is the Chairman of the Board of Bechtel Energy. “He claims that he acquired Bechtel Energy shares in Northgas in 1996, but was never chairman of the board of that company or held any other position with it,” the court said.

The court ultimately ruled to overturn the decision of the EU Council to include Akhmedov on the list of sanctions and to reimburse legal costs associated with the process.

Former owner of the gas production company Northgas Farhad Akhmedov in 2004–2007 was a senator from the Krasnodar region.

In February 2005, the Northgas company, owned by the senator, changed its legal address to the city of Krasnodar in order to pay taxes to the Kuban budget. He also invested his funds in the development of the Krasnaya Polyana resort.

Akhmedov was the first owner of the Gorki Gorod resort and the Gornaya Karusel ski complex, which were built for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. As Forbes magazine wrote, in 2004–2006 he planned to invest about 16 billion rubles in their development.

In 2006, the businessman sold the project Magomed Bilalovyounger brother of the chairman of the board of directors of the North Caucasus Resorts company and vice-president of the Olympic Committee Akhmed Bilalov.