UK revises Russia sanctions case against Cypriot lawyer Vassiliades

LONDON, July 14, 2026 — The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it had made a variation to the sanctions listing of Christodoulos Georgiou Vassiliades under the Russia regime, leaving him subject to an asset freeze, travel ban, trust services sanctions and a director disqualification sanction. The notice says the entry was updated on July 14 and that the director disqualification measure had been imposed on April 9, 2025.

The main change appears in the published statement of reasons. The revised text removes language that said Vassiliades was associated with sanctioned Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov through professional services that benefited Usmanov, and that Vassiliades himself benefited from those services. In the amended version, the UK says only that there are reasonable grounds to suspect Vassiliades is an involved person because he is, and has been, involved in obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Russian government.

The notice keeps another part of the rationale tied to Vassiliades’ role as a director of Sberbank Investments Limited, described in the filing as a Cyprus-based subsidiary wholly owned by PJSC Sberbank. The UK notice says Sberbank is owned by the Russian Ministry of Finance and that the subsidiary therefore carries on business as a Russian government-affiliated entity.

Vassiliades was first designated by the UK on April 11, 2023. At the time, the British government said he was among a group of financial and professional enablers linked to major Russian oligarchs, including Usmanov.

The entry remains listed under unique ID RUS1825 and OFSI group ID 15884. The government’s Russia sanctions notices page shows this was the only variation recorded in the July 14 update to the UK Sanctions List.