The General Court of the EU has lifted sanctions against former russian senator Oleg Tkach

The General Court of the European Union has annulled the EU Council’s decision to extend personal sanctions in 2024 and 2025 against Oleg Tkach, a former russian senator from the Kaliningrad region and founder of the "Olma Media Group" publishing house. This was reported by the EU Law Live portal on Wednesday, 23 September.

According to information on the court’s website, the hearing in this case took place on 25 February 2026.

The sanctions, which are imposed on those who, according to the European Union, support actions that undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, were imposed on Oleg Tkach shortly after the start of the full-scale russian military invasion on 9 March 2022.

Tkach was included on the sanctions lists alongside other members of the Federation Council who voted to ratify treaties on friendship and cooperation with the so-called "DPR" and "LPR", as reported by the newspaper "Kommersant".

“The former senator’s defence team succeeded in proving that the Council of the EU did not have sufficient legal grounds for the annual renewal of the restrictions against the former senator,” notes "Kommersant". — “The court’s key argument in favour of lifting the sanctions was the fact that Mr Tkach left the upper house of the russian parliament back in 2022, withdrew completely from political activity and no longer participates in state decision-making.”

The court also took into account that, since 2022, Oleg Tkach has acquired two new citizenships, which has prevented him from holding political office in russia.

As RBC explains, the court annulled the Council’s decisions only for the periods from September 2024 and 2025. Consequently, Tkach remains on the EU sanctions list in accordance with the EU Council’s decision of 14 March 2026. As the report indicates, the former senator has already filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn this decision to extend the sanctions.

Source: EU Law Live, DW