Estonia imposes restrictions on Russians removed from EU sanctions list following Hungary's influence

Oleh Pavliuk, Alona Mazurenko — Friday, 14 March 2025, 18:31

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has announced that Tallinn has imposed national sanctions against four Russian citizens who were removed from the EU sanctions list at Hungary's insistence.

Source: European Pravda

Details: Tsahkna noted that amid discussions in the European Union about extending sanctions, Estonia took the preventive step of imposing its own sanctions on all individuals removed from the EU list.

"I have decided to impose national sanctions against Kantor, Degtyarev and Ismailova in response to their removal from the EU sanctions list," the Estonian foreign minister said.

The individuals in question are Gulbahor Ismailova, the sister of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov; businessman Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor; and Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev.

Their exclusion from the EU sanctions list was a condition set by Hungary for the extension of the entire list, which contains approximately 2,400 individuals implicated in the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Background:

On Friday 14 March, European Pravda reported, citing sources, that EU ambassadors had agreed to extend a number of EU sanctions against Russia after reaching an agreement with Hungary, which had intended to block the decision.
Failure to extend the sanctions could result in up to 30% of Russia's total frozen assets being unfrozen. Estimates suggest this could amount to around €60 billion or more in released funds.

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