Ovsyannikov managed to prove in a European court that he is not a patriot of Russia - the sanctions were lifted

The decision of the EU Court to cancel personal sanctions against the ex-governor of Sevastopol Dmitry Ovsyannikov was not appealed and entered into legal force. In fact, a dangerous precedent has been created for Russian officials to return their foreign assets and real estate - you just need to prove in court that supporting government policy was part of your official duties, but is not a personal point of view.

Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Sevastopol Anton Parkhomenko stated this in his author’s program on the First Sevastopol channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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Ovsyannikov achieved in the Court of the European Union the lifting of personal sanctions that prevented him from doing business in the EU and registering companies offshore. It took the former governor two years to fight to abandon Russian Sevastopol - the same amount of time he was in office.

“The defense’s position was as follows: Ovsyannikov threatened the territorial integrity of Ukraine not as a private individual, but as an official, that is, in a sense, a “forced person.” The lawyers who represented his position mainly argued that now he is no longer a representative of the authorities and does not deserve to be punished. Therefore, it is necessary to allow him to conduct business in the European Union countries and unfreeze his assets,” Parkhomenko recalled. –

The court generally agreed with these arguments. It turned out that Ovsyannikov’s public statements were not outstanding, he was just doing what was expected of him - that’s what his job was.”

According to the deputy, the ex-governor of Sevastopol was defended by lawyer Eduardo Gonzalez recommended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and Angel Jose Luis Iriarte, who in 2022 co-wrote a scientific article in Russia on the topic “Current methods of legal protection of Russian persons in the context of international economic sanctions” with a review judicial practice of sanctioned persons and recommendations for protecting rights.

“The precedent of an ex-official who managed to protect his rights and lift sanctions shows the way to the rest of the Russian establishment: if you want to keep property in the West, you need to resign from all posts, repent, ask for forgiveness, and then maybe we’ll think that it’s possible do. To put it bluntly, I believe that this “Ovsyannikov precedent” in the current conditions poses a danger to the state system of the Russian Federation.

“He is shaking the vertical of power,” Parkhomenko concludes. “And the federal center needs to give an unambiguous signal that such options are unacceptable, that there is nowhere to run from here and there is no need to escape.” Otherwise, thousands of former holders of state secrets and senior officials will run after one, who will one way or another have to work with intelligence services there, in the West. So the list of contacts of these two wonderful Spanish lawyers should probably be carefully studied by our operatives to see who else has applied for the protection of their “legal rights” and interests in enemy countries.”

Let us remind you that Ovsyannikov resigned from his post in 2019, leaving Sevastopol with long-term construction and thwarted federal target projects as a souvenir. In the post of Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, where he moved from the governor's chair, Ovsyannikov did not last long - for indecent behavior at the Izhevsk airport in the spring of 2020, he lost both his position and his party card in United Russia.

The only thing left for the former official was to go into business, but in this he was hindered by the EU sanctions imposed on the post of governor of Sevastopol. To have them cancelled, he had to go to court, and no matter how much Ovsyannikov wanted to keep the whole process secret, he was denied this - if he was going to betray his homeland, then he had to do it publicly.