Swiss court rejects Dmitry Konov’s delisting application

13 October 2025

The Swiss Federal Administrative Court has rejected Dmitry Konov’s application to be removed from Switzerland’s sanctions list. Switzerland usually adopts EU sanctions against Russia through the Swiss Ukraine Sanctions Ordinance (2022). See our Switzerland pages for the relevant sanctions legislation.

Mr Konov was designated by the EU in March 2022 for his role as Chairman of PJSC Sibur Holding which the EU said made him an influential businessman in Russia. Switzerland sanctioned Mr Konov for the same reasons shortly afterwards. His Swiss listing was updated in 2023 and 2024 to reflect his roles at Alrosa, a Russian state-owned diamond mining company, and his membership on the supervisory board of the Russian Science Foundation. Mr Konov argued his Swiss designation and relistings were unlawful because:

• He had resigned from Sibur and Alrosa in 2022 and was not an influential businessman in Russia.

• He did not have a close relationship with the Russian government.

The Court rejected these arguments. It said that Mr Konov was an influential businessman with ties to the Russian government when he was first sanctioned in 2022 because:

• Mr Konov was still on the board of Sibur and Alrosa when he was first designated and Sibur’s major shareholders included people said to have links to the Russian government.

• Mr Konov had attended a meeting with President Putin where President Putin discussed potential consequences of the invasion of Ukraine prior to its occurrence.

The Court said Mr Konov had remained involved in sectors linked to the Russian government because:

• After resigning from Sibur, Mr Konov had continued to invest in Sibur’s charity programme which was said to support Russian state objectives.

• Mr Konov had failed to provide convincing evidence that he had resigned from Alrosa’s supervisory board. He remained involved in strategic discussions, including projects aimed at strengthening Russia’s technological sovereignty.

• Mr Konov had been appointed by President Putin to the Russian Science Foundation in 2023.

The EU General Court previously rejected Mr Konov’s application to be delisted from the EU sanctions list, so he remains subject to EU and Swiss sanctions. All delisting judgments are on our Judgments page.