The UK government has amended the sanctions listing of Cypriot lawyer Christodoulos Vassiliades, removing references that previously linked him to sanctioned businessman Alisher Usmanov.
The amendment was published by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) on 14 July 2026 as part of an update to the Russia sanctions regime.
When Mr Vassiliades was sanctioned in April 2023, the UK government stated that he was associated with Mr Usmanov through professional services that benefited the Russian businessman. At the time, the designation formed part of the UK’s broader measures targeting individuals described as “supporting sanctioned Russian oligarchs”.
Under the latest amendment, those references have been removed from the published statement of reasons. The remaining basis for the designation refers to Mr Vassiliades’ previous role as a director of a Cyprus-based subsidiary of Sberbank.
The FCDO did not publish a separate explanation for the amendment, stating only that the change followed an “official decision-making process.”
Mr Vassiliades has consistently maintained that neither he nor his law firm ever acted for sanctioned individuals. Following the sanctions imposed in 2023, his professional activities were significantly disrupted, while associated businesses and employees were also affected.
The amendment comes amid broader legal developments concerning trust structures linked to sanctioned individuals.
In June 2026, the Frankfurt Administrative Court ruled that German authorities had failed to demonstrate that Alisher Usmanov owned or controlled the superyacht Dilbar or the trust managing the yacht for the purposes of EU sanctions. In multiple separate cases, the Hamburg Regional court prohibited several media outlets from describing Mr Usmanov as the owner of a German villa held through another trust. Earlier, in March 2025, the European Union removed his sister, Gulbakhor Ismailova – whom the EU Council had previously named as the beneficiary of the yacht –from its sanctions list.
These decisions have attracted attention within Cyprus, where trust structures remain an established component of the island’s legal and financial services sector.
The amendment to Mr Vassiliades’ sanctions listing is also likely to renew discussion among legal professionals regarding the evidentiary standards applied in sanctions designations and the treatment of trust structures under UK and EU sanctions frameworks.
While the UK’s amendment does not remove the sanctions against Mr Vassiliades, it reflects a significant revision of the published reasons supporting the designation. The development is expected to remain of interest to legal practitioners, policymakers and financial services professionals in Cyprus and beyond.
Also read: Man suspected of spying on UK military base for Iran arrested in Cyprus
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