EU stops calling Russian businesspersons oligarchs

The European Union (EU) no longer refers to Russian businessmen as oligarchs when imposing sanctions against them.

The word "oligarch" in the description of Russians in the EU Official Journal has now been replaced by the phrase "leading businessperson," RBC reports.

Such changes have been made in the information about 140 individuals and 41 legal entities of the Russian Federation, which fell under the European sanctions.

The word "oligarch" has also been removed from most descriptions of President Vladimir Putin's meeting with representatives of big companies, which took place on February 24, 2023. 

A number of Russian businessmen who challenged the EU sanctions in court claimed that they were not "oligarchs". For example, MMK Chairman of the Board of Directors Viktor Rashnikov denied that he was an oligarch, according to the September ruling of the EU Court of Justice on his lawsuit (the court rejected the lawsuit to lift the sanctions and, in particular, did not address the question of whether Rashnikov could be called an oligarch).