The European Union extends personal sanctions against people believed to be connected to Vladimir Putin every six months. This is expected to happen again on March 15. The decision requires the consent of all 27 member states.
On the eve, journalists from Financial Times reported that Budapest demanded the lifting of sanctions against banker Mikhail Fridman, otherwise threatening to block the extension of the restrictions. At the last moment, Luxembourg also made similar demands.
According to Bloomberg, European countries agreed to lift sanctions on three Russians, but Fridman is not among them. The investigative project "Sistema," citing European diplomats, writes that the EU sanctions list may exclude Minister of Sports Mikhail Degtyarev, sister of billionaire Alisher Usmanov Gulbakhor Ismailova, and shareholder of the company "Acron" Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor. They were on the list of people from whom Hungary, according to Reuters, requested the lifting of sanctions in February.
According to Bloomberg, Hungary initially sought the lifting of sanctions on eight people in exchange for its support for extending the restrictions.