The EU has removed three Russian oligarchs from the latest sanctions list under pressure from Hungary, Vedomosti reported on March 14 citing Bloomberg.

EU sources say the three unnamed Russian citizens were removed from the sanctions list and the EU has begun the so-called written procedure, which will pave the way for a six-month extension of sanctions against Russia.

As bne IntelliNews reported, Hungary was seeking to remove the names of three of Russia's biggest oligarchs from the sixteenth sanctions package: metals tycoon Alisher Usmanov and the Alfa banking group partners Pyotr Aven and Mikhail Fridman.

Separately, on March 13 the Financial Times reported, citing four European officials, that Hungary intends to block a resolution to extend sanctions against about 2,000 Russian citizens this month unless the EU removes Alfa Bank co-founder Mikhail Fridman from the list. The sanctions against these Russians expire on March 15, and unanimous approval by all 27 EU countries is needed to extend them.

Sanctions on Fridman have already been partly lifted last year, but he has not been fully exonerated. However, all three of the oligarchs have been actively fighting their inclusion in the lists in Western courts.

Fridman has challenged the basic legality of the sanction’s regime in general and that of the freeze on Fridman’s assets in particular. Fridman launched a landmark “Pandora’s box” $16bn arbitration claim against Luxembourg, the home of the European Court responsible for imposing sanctions, last August, contesting the freezing of his assets.

Fridman is basing his legal argument on a 1989 bilateral investment treaty between Belgium and Luxembourg and the Soviet Union, under which investments by nationals of either party cannot be expropriated without compensation. If he wins, the case could open the floodgates to a raft of multi-million-dollar claims for compensation by the thousands of Russian businessmen on the various sanctions lists.

The legal suit follows Fridman’s offer to settle the dispute out of court, made in February, expired. Fridman gave the government six months to respond. Lawyers interviewed by Vedomosti say that Fridman has a “non-zero” chance of winning his case in court.

Fridman is represented by a legal team that includes Cherie Blair KC, a prominent British barrister and wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Forbes estimates Aven and Fridman's fortunes at $4.3bn and $13.1bn respectively. They are two of Russia’s best-known oligarchs that rose to prominence in the 1990s during the chaotic Yeltsin-era when the first generations of super-rich emerged.

The case is the most serious legal challenge to the sanction’s regime imposed on oligarchs for no more than being “close to Putin”. Oligarchs have filed dozens of legal cases disputing the legality of sanctions, which are often based on slipshod evidence and unsubstantiated media reports. As bne IntelliNews reported, Uzbek-born Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has also won a string of legal cases against German prosecutors for making baseless claims that were used to launch investigations into the tycoon’s businesses and sanctions on his sister have also been lifted after the family fought the imposition in European courts and proved they were unjustified.