Abramovich ally fights UK sanctions in landmark court case (updated)

Evraz

20/07/2023 19:44

(Recasts first sentence, adds details on and comments by
Shvidler in paragraphs 7-10, background on sanctions in
paragraphs 12-13)
    By Sam Tobin
       LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) - A billionaire ally of
Russian businessman Roman Abramovich on Thursday accused Britain
of trying to force him to publicly condemn Russia's invasion of
Ukraine, as he asked London's High Court to overturn British
sanctions imposed on him.
    Eugene Shvidler, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes
magazine at $1.6 billion, became the "poster boy for Russian
sanctions" when his two private jets were seized in March 2022,
just after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, his lawyers argue.
    The businessman was sanctioned that month by Britain's
Foreign Office on the grounds of his association with former
Chelsea Football Club owner Abramovich.
    Britain also cites Shvidler's position as a director of
London-listed Russian steel producer Evraz  EVRE.L  and role at
Russian oil company Sibneft, sold by Abramovich in 2005, as
evidence he obtained a financial benefit from Abramovich.
    But Shvidler – a dual British-U.S. citizen – argues Britain
was wrong to impose sanctions just because of his relationship
with Abramovich, whom he describes as a close friend.
    His lawyers say Shvidler did not receive any financial
benefits from Abramovich, saying any payment he received from
Evraz or Sibneft was from those companies and not Abramovich.
    Shvidler in March 2022 called for an end to the "senseless
violence in Ukraine," a statement Britain's Foreign Office has
said did not "clearly condemn Russia's invasion."
    He said, in a witness statement released by his lawyers on
Thursday, that he was shocked the Foreign Office wanted him to
make "a further statement that would immediately make me guilty
of treason" under Russian law.
    Citing the murder of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko,
the attempted murder of former double agent Sergei Skripal and
the alleged poisoning of Abramovich during peace negotiations
last year, Shvidler said Russia was known to use violence
against "those it deems to be traitors."
    He also said that any further public statement on Russia's
invasion of Ukraine could place his family – and Abramovich and
his family – "in great personal jeopardy."
    Shvidler's case will be closely watched as the first
substantive challenge to British sanctions imposed following
Russia's invasion.
    Western governments have sanctioned a raft of people and
businesses over their alleged connections to Russian President
Vladimir Putin and the Russian government, prompting legal
challenges from those who say they have been unfairly targeted.
    Britain has sanctioned around 1,600 people – including
Abramovich, who is separately challenging sanctions imposed by
the EU – following last year's invasion of Ukraine and frozen
more than 18 billion pounds ($23 billion) in assets.
    But Shvidler's lawyer, David Anderson, told the High Court
that Shvidler has no relationship with Putin, no involvement in
Russian politics and has not even been to Russia since attending
the late Russian President Boris Yeltsin's funeral in 2007.
    The effect of British sanctions has been to "destroy his
ability to deal with his assets and conduct his business, to
disrupt his life and ... to shatter his reputation," Anderson
said in court filings.
    However, Britain's Foreign Office argues his association
with Abramovich – who it says has benefitted financially from
supporting Putin's government regime – justifies the sanctions.
    Britain believes sanctioning Shvidler will "incentivise him
to put pressure on Mr Abramovich to encourage President Putin to
cease or limit" Russia's war in Ukraine, its lawyer James Eadie
said in court filings.
    The sanctioning of Shvidler sends a signal to him and others
that "there are negative consequences to having implicitly
legitimised the government of Russia's actions," Eadie said.

 (Reporting by Sam Tobin in London
Editing by Angus MacSwan and Matthew Lewis)
 ((Sam.Tobin@thomsonreuters.com;))