Estonia imposes national sanctions on two Russian oligarchs dropped from EU list

Estonia has imposed its own national sanctions on two Russian oligarchs, Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, after the pair were removed from the European Union's sanctions list earlier this week.

The move signals Tallinn's intent to maintain restrictions on the two individuals independently of the EU's collective sanctions regime, even after the bloc opted to lift its own measures against them. Estonia has been among the most vocal EU and NATO member states in advocating for sustained pressure on individuals and entities linked to Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Diverging from Brussels

The decision highlights a divergence between individual member states and the EU's central sanctions process, which requires unanimous agreement among member states to maintain or lift measures. When consensus shifts and names are removed from the bloc-wide list, individual countries retain the option to impose their own parallel restrictions, as Estonia has done in this case.

Usmanov and Fridman have both featured prominently in Western sanctions actions imposed since 2022 over their business ties and proximity to the Kremlin. Their removal from the EU list does not appear to reflect a broader softening of the bloc's approach, given Estonia's decision to act unilaterally.

Further details on the scope of Estonia's sanctions, including what specific restrictions apply to the two men's assets or activities within the country, were not immediately available.