The General Court of the European Union took Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven off an EU sanctions list, writes The Financial Times.

It said that there isn’t sufficient evidence the two businessmen supported Russian President Vladimir Putin"s war against Ukraine.

“The General Court considers that none of the reasons set out in the initial acts is sufficiently substantiated and that the inclusion of Mr Aven and Mr Fridman on the lists at issue was therefore not justified”, - the court said in a statement.

Fridman and Aven, who are both major shareholders of Alfa Group, one of Russia’s largest privately owned investment groups, have been under EU sanctions since late February 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.