The Russian investigative unit of Radio Free Europe (RFE), Systema, has published the names of Russian individuals Hungary seeks to remove from the EU sanctions list.

EU leaders, with the vote of Hungary, approved the 16th round of sanctions against Russia, timed for the third anniversary of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The new sanctions targeted multiple sectors, from energy, trade and transport, to infrastructure and financial services, but excluding the purchase of Russian LNG.

Prior to the EU foreign minister meeting on February 24, Hungary's chief diplomat said that Budapest would not consent to new tens of billions of euros for arms supplies for Ukraine and would "not consent to rush ahead" with the extension of the sanction on individuals.

The Russia sanctions consist of two frameworks, which come up for renewal at different times, generally every six months. One covers economic measures, and the other is a list of over 2,400 individuals and entities that are subject to asset freezes and travel bans.

EU diplomats would not provide details, but Systema, launched in 2023, has now listed the names of the eight Russian businesspersons whom Hungary wants to remove from the list.

Uzbek-born Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, one of Russia’s wealthiest businessmen, was sanctioned by the EU, the US and the UK just a few days after the Russian full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. The UK also added USM Holding to its sanctions list. Usmanov, who resides in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent, was sanctioned as "one of Vladimir Putin’s favourite oligarchs," who "acts as a front for president and resolves his business matters", Radio Free Europe writes. Both allegations were taken from press statements and later successfully challenged by the billionaire in European courts. The EU removed the qualification of an ‘oligarch’ from its official journal.

Usmanov's sister, Gulbahor Ismailova has been on the sanctions list since April 8, 2022, due to her role in holding parts of her brother’s foreign assets. The restrictions came shortly after Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (the Bundeskriminalamt, or BKA) named her as the ultimate owner of assets that Western officials believe are tied to her brother, including the half-billion-euro Dilbar yacht. BKA later withdrew its statement, while Ismailova signed a waiver renouncing all possible benefits from these assets, but the EU still maintains her on its list.

Mikhail Fridman, the co-founder of Alfa Bank, was forced to sell his stakes in the country’s largest private bank, which was also active in EU countries before he was sanctioned in February 2024. 

Fridman grew to prominence in the 1990s after his Alfa Group made him a billionaire. After getting his start as a window cleaner in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union he went on to found a business empire that includes Alfa Bank, the highly successful X5 retail and supermarket group and numerous other businesses. In August 2024, the 60-year-old tycoon launched a landmark $16bn arbitration claim against Luxembourg, contesting the freezing of his assets under EU sanctions.

Pyotr Aven, the business partner of Mikhail Fridman and co-founder and former president of Alfa Bank, has been subjected to EU sanctions since February 28, 2022. He is regarded as one of Putin's closest oligarchs, who has actively provided material or financial support to Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea or the destabilisation of Ukraine and has benefited from it.

Dmitry Mazepin, under EU sanctions since March 2022, is the co-owner of Uralchem, one of the largest producers of fertilisers. He met with the Russian leader on the day Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, and has been under EU sanctions since March 2022, according to RFE.

Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, a prominent businessman linked to Vladimir Putin, was the former owner of the publicly listed Acron Group, one of Russia's largest fertiliser producers. Kantor, a Russian, Israeli and UK citizen, was also the former head of the European Jewish Congress. He was added to the sanctions list on April 8, 2022.

Musa Bazhaev, a Russian businessperson of Chechen descent, is the president of Moscow-based Alliance group, which owns assets in the oil, construction, textile, food, financial and media. The EU slapped sanctions on the businessman in April 2022 as he was involved in a strategic economic sector providing a substantial source of revenue to the government.

According to Radio Free Europe, all eight businessmen have challenged the EU's restrictive measures in court, which included asset freeze and travel ban.

Systema has reached out to all eight individuals, or their representatives, and the Hungarian Foreign Ministry but has not received any responses.

Investigative news site VSquare reported that just as the EU approved its 16th round of sanctions against Russia, Szijjarto proudly declared last week that he had successfully secured exemptions for two Russian football clubs, including CSKA Moscow and FC Rostov, from the sanctions list. Estonia had originally pushed for the sanctions against the two clubs.

CSKA Moscow, owned by the state-controlled VEB.RF bank, which is under EU and US sanctions, has deep ties to the Russian military. It remains unclear why Hungary would advocate for Russian football clubs, but VSquare points out that Szijjarto's close friend, former Hungarian national team player Balazs Dzsudzsak, spent years playing in the Russian Premier League, primarily for Dynamo Moscow in the 2010s.

In June 2022, Hungary opposed adding Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, to the EU sanctions list as part of the bloc's sixth sanctions package. The Hungarian government justified its stance on the grounds of religious freedom, asserting that imposing sanctions on a religious leader would set a bad precedent.

Late last year, the Russian Orthodox Church removed Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev from his position as head of the Diocese of Budapest and Hungary and reassigned him to the Czech Republic over a sexual harassment case. Hilarion was long considered the second-in-command of the Moscow Patriarchate and was even mentioned as a possible successor to Patriarch Kirill.

Hilarion resided in a €2mn luxury estate in Budapest and in 2019, he received the Hungarian Order of Merit with Middle Cross from Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen.