BRUSSELS -- An EU court has partly upheld sanctions imposed on Arkady Rotenberg, a Russian businessman and close associate of President Vladimir Putin.
Rotenberg was added to the EU travel ban and asset-freeze list in the summer of 2014 for his role in the Ukraine crisis.
In its November 30 ruling, the EU's General Court annulled the sanctions against Rotenberg for the period July 2014 to March 2015 because the EU legal reasoning was at fault, a statement said.
However, the Luxembourg-based court said the two additional grounds cited in March 2015 justified the restrictions.
The additional reasons provided included the fact that Rotenberg is the owner of the company Stroygazmontazh, which received a Russian state contract to build a bridge from Russia to Crimea.
He is also the chairman of the board of directors of the publishing house Prosveschenyie, which was behind a campaign to persuade Crimean children that they are now Russian citizens living in Russia.
Rotenberg has two months to appeal the ruling.