MOSCOW, January 28 (RAPSI) – Europe's highest court in Luxembourg ruled on Thursday that sanctions imposed on five ex-Ukrainian high-ranking officials were groundless.

An application seeking removal from the European blacklist was filed by Nikolai Azarov who once held the position of Prime Minister; his son Aleksei Azarov who used to be a lawmaker in the Ukrainian parliament; former Vice Prime Minister Sergei Arbuzov; former minister of Energy and Coal Mining Eduard Stavytskyi; brother of the ex-head of Presidential Administration of Ukraine Sergei Klyuyev.

Assets of the officials have been frozen from March 6, 2014 until March 5, 2015. The Council of the European Union introduced sanctions against ex-Ukrainian officials as they were suspected of being involved in the embezzlement of government’s funds. Their assets were frozen shortly after receiving a letter from the office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine saying that the officials were under investigation.

The General Court ruled that officials could not be responsible for misappropriation of funds solely on the basis of a letter which did not specify “details concerning the matters specifically alleged against the five Ukrainians.”