"System": Hungary requests the lifting of sanctions on Usmanov, Friedman, and Aven.

On February 25, the Reuters agency reported that Hungary is prepared to veto the extension of European sanctions against Russia unless certain individuals are removed from the list. The names of these individuals were not mentioned in the report.

A high-ranking source in diplomatic circles confirmed Hungary's demands to "System." This source also shared the names of the Hungarian protégés with the project.

The list includes one of Russia's wealthiest individuals, Alisher Usmanov, his sister Gulbahor Ismailova, co-founders of "Alfa-Bank," Mikhail Friedman and Petr Aven, co-owner of the "Uralchem" holding, Dmitry Mazepin, businessman Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, who led the European Jewish Congress, as well as the head of the "Alliance" group and oil magnate Musa Bajayev. The list also includes the Minister of Sports and former governor of the Khabarovsk region, Mikhail Degtyarev.

The existence of such a list has not been officially confirmed. Additionally, there is no information on why Budapest is requesting the exclusion of these individuals.

The EU Court previously ruled to lift sanctions against Friedman and Aven; however, this decision does not pertain to all sanctions imposed on them, so they remain in effect.

• Mikhail Degtyarev has been under EU sanctions since July 25, 2014, for declaring the opening of an embassy for the so-called "DPR" in Moscow while serving as a State Duma deputy.
• Sanctions against most individuals on the list were imposed after Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
• The EU's sanctions list is regularly reviewed and extended with unanimous support from the 27 member states. Hungary has previously threatened to use its veto power.
• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claims that the sanctions allegedly impact EU countries harder than Russia. In Brussels, however, it is pointed out that without a unified stance on sanctions, the EU loses its main tool of pressure on Moscow.