Violetta Prigozhina, the owner of an art gallery, artist and mother of the founder of PMC Wagner, may again be included in the EU sanctions list, from which she was recently removed , since then she managed to prove to the European Court that she had no business ties with her son. This is reported by the Financial Times.
According to the representative of the EU, Brussels can appeal against the decision of the European Court within two months. After that, the court can either permanently remove Violetta from the sanctions list, or reimpose sanctions against her with a different set of evidence. “Updated lists are under development,” the official said.
Earlier, EU judges agreed to lift the sanctions against Prigozhina, concluding that her ties to her son were purely familial and there was no demonstrable economic connection between them.
However, corporate documents and reports from Violetta Prigozhina's art gallery reveal several similarities between her and her son's business empire, FT points out. In 2021, according to Russian tax documents, her art gallery was inspected by St. Petersburg-based consulting company Accent, which reported an annual turnover of 14 million rubles in 2022 and a staff of five.
Accent is the auditor of almost all of Yevgeny Prigozhin's companies, including various organizations that are part of Concord, as well as several Prigozhin family real estate businesses. At least two-thirds of Accent's clients are associated with Prigozhin.
Yevgeny Prigozhin himself has been under US sanctions since 2016, since 2020 under EU and UK sanctions, and since 2022 under Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan.
Prigozhin's two children (son Pavel and daughter Polina), as well as his wife Lyubov, are under US and EU sanctions because of their role in the PMC founder's business empire.
Prigozhin's closest relatives are not just passive recipients of his wealth, the FT points out. The US said last year that the children and wife "play different roles in Prigozhin's business venture" that benefits from "his privileged position in the Russian elite."
Veronika, Prigozhin's youngest daughter, who turned 18 in March, is now the only member of his family who has never been subject to sanctions restrictions. According to media reports, at the end of last year, Veronika became the owner of a company that controls a hotel in St. Petersburg.