This Council Regulation (EU) 2025/903 amends Regulation (EU) No 269/2014, which concerns restrictive measures against actions undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence. The amendment introduces a new criterion for listing individuals or entities involved in transferring ownership, control, or economic benefits from the business interests of leading Russian businesspersons already under EU sanctions. It also clarifies the burden of proof required to maintain leading businesspersons on the sanctions list, even if they claim to have transferred their business interests.
The regulation consists of two articles. Article 1 amends Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 by adding a new criterion (m) to paragraph 1, which allows for the listing of individuals or entities that have participated in or enabled transfers of ownership, control, or economic benefit of the business interests of leading businesspersons who are subject to Union restrictive measures. It also inserts a new paragraph 1b, which states that leading businesspersons operating in Russia who claim to have transferred ownership, control, or economic benefit of their business interests on or after 24 February 2022 shall continue to be considered as leading businesspersons and maintained in the list unless sufficient, recent and reliable information demonstrates that they no longer meet the original listing criteria. Article 2 stipulates that the regulation will enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and that it is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
The most important provision is the new listing criterion (Article 1(1)), which targets those who facilitate the transfer of assets from sanctioned individuals, aiming to prevent the circumvention of existing sanctions. Additionally, the clarification on the burden of proof (Article 1(2)) ensures that sanctioned businesspersons cannot easily evade sanctions by claiming to have transferred their assets without providing sufficient evidence. **** This has direct implications for individuals and entities dealing with Russian businesspersons subject to sanctions related to actions undermining Ukraine.
