"Well it's disappointing of course. I would also say it is a setback for judicial protection in EU in the area of sanctions," Lode van den Hende told reporters.
Earlier in the day, the court ruled that the EU sanctions against Rosneft imposed in 2014 were valid. The ruling came in response to a UK court request to provide the EU's legal stance regarding the issue after the restrictive measures were appealed by Rosneft in the United Kingdom.
"Court, briefly, excluded the fact that company is only partially state owned… State controls only 51% of its shares. These sanctions impacts international shareholders as well," the lawyer added.
Hearings on Rosneft's October 2014 lawsuit against the European Council began in February 2016. The Russian company indicated that the Council failed to provide sufficient evidence for its actions, violating the right to judicial protection, by imposing sanctions against Rosneft and three of its subsidiaries in July 2014.
