Andrey Melnichenko: Founder of EuroChem and SUEK, the Sanctions and His Court Cases

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Sanctions status — checked 18 October 2026

Listed by: US (OFAC SDN) · UK (OFSI) · EU

This person appears on the sanctions lists named above. Date of birth used for identification: 1972-03-08. Checked against the OFAC SDN list, the UK OFSI consolidated list and the EU consolidated list. Sanctions lists change without notice — verify against the primary source before relying on this.

Current figure: Forbes puts Andrey Melnichenko and family’s net worth at $20.4 billion as of 18 October 2026 (Forbes profile). Estimates are revised continuously and Forbes and Bloomberg frequently disagree.

Andrey Melnichenko founded the fertiliser producer EuroChem and the coal company SUEK. On 9 March 2022, the day the European Union sanctioned him, he left both companies’ boards and withdrew as their beneficiary. Since then his wife Aleksandra has been the beneficiary of the trust that holds the stakes. Nine jurisdictions have sanctioned him, including the EU, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States. He has challenged several of the listings in court. The EU General Court and a Canadian federal court dismissed his cases, and an appeal to the EU Court of Justice was pending in late 2025. His Sailing Yacht A has been impounded in Trieste, Italy, since March 2022.

  • Born: 8 March 1972 in Gomel, Belarus, then part of the Soviet Union (UK sanctions list, Forbes Russia)
  • Education: studied physics at Moscow State University; Forbes lists a degree from the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics
  • Known for: founder of EuroChem and SUEK, co-founder of MDM Bank
  • Sanctions as of October 2026: European Union, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Poland (2022), United States (August 2022), New Zealand (October 2022), Japan (January 2023), Canada (February 2023)

From exchange booths to EuroChem and SUEK

Melnichenko was born in Belarus; his mother is Ukrainian (Reuters via The National). While studying physics at Moscow State University, he started trading foreign currency and set up an exchange booth in the student dormitory (Reuters via The National, Forbes Russia). Forbes writes that he dropped out in 1991 to build a chain of exchange booths and founded MDM Bank two years later (Forbes). Forbes Russia lists a degree from the Russian Economic Academy, now Plekhanov University, in 1997 (Forbes Russia).

In 1997 he met Sergei Popov, who became his equal partner in the MDM group. In 2000–2002 the group bought industrial assets from which SUEK, the pipe maker TMK and EuroChem were formed (Forbes Russia). In 2005 Popov and Melnichenko each held 49.388 percent of MDM Bank (Kommersant, 2005). In December 2006 they divided their assets. Popov received 90 percent of MDM Bank, and Melnichenko became the main owner of the industrial companies (Kommersant, 2007, Forbes Russia). He left TMK’s shareholders at its stock market listing in 2006. The Siberian Generating Company (SGK) was later built on SUEK’s power assets (Forbes Russia). EuroChem moved its headquarters to Zug, Switzerland, in 2015 (Reuters via The National).

Before the sanctions he controlled 90 percent of EuroChem Group AG (Interfax). According to Poland’s interior ministry, 92 percent of SUEK AG belonged to him until he was sanctioned (Polish interior ministry). In 2020 he chaired the climate policy committee of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) (RSPP). In March 2026 he was named chairman of the RSPP’s new committee on ecology and climate policy (NIA Ecology).

9 March 2022

On 9 March 2022 Melnichenko resigned as a board member and non-executive director of EuroChem and SUEK and withdrew as their beneficiary (Reuters via The National, Interfax, Forbes Russia). Since 2022 his wife Aleksandra has been the beneficiary of a trust that holds stakes in EuroChem and SUEK (Forbes). The EU, which listed her on 3 June 2022, states that he transferred effective ownership of both companies to her that day (EU reasons, as quoted by the High Court). In May 2022 Swiss authorities unfroze EuroChem’s accounts after concluding that there was no proof that a sanctioned person controlled the company (Interfax). EuroChem itself is not on the EU sanctions list (Brussels Signal, EuroChem).

He said in 2022 that he had lived in Switzerland since 2009 (Business Insider via Yahoo). According to Forbes, he now lives in the United Arab Emirates (Forbes, Mediazona). Since September 2026 the EU has listed his nationality as Russian and Emirati (Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2160).

Sanctions

CountryListedStatus in October 2026
European Union9 March 2022Listed; court challenges dismissed, appeal pending
United Kingdom15 March 2022Listed (UK sanctions list, RUS0774)
Switzerland16 March 2022Listed; appeal heard in April 2026
Australia7 April 2022Listed (Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (No. 11) Instrument 2022)
Poland26 April 2022Entry ban (national list)
United States2 August 2022Listed (OFAC SDN list, by determination of the State Department)
New Zealand12 October 2022Listed (Russia Sanctions Register)
Japan27 January 2023Asset freeze
Canada23 February 2023Listed; court challenge dismissed

The European Union listed Melnichenko on 9 March 2022, 13 days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Interfax). Its original reasons said he belonged “to the most influential circle of Russian businesspeople with close connections to the Russian Government”. They also cited his attendance at a meeting with Vladimir Putin and 36 other businesspeople on 24 February 2022: “The fact that he was invited to attend this meeting shows that he is a member of the closest circle of Vladimir Putin” (EU reasons, as quoted by the High Court, AP via Irish Examiner). The version of the EU’s reasons updated on 22 September 2026 no longer contains that sentence. It states that he “continues to control” EuroChem and SUEK and continues to benefit from the wealth he transferred to his wife. It also refers to his posts at the RSPP, to the February 2022 meeting and to an RSPP congress in April 2024 at which Putin spoke (Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2160). An earlier version of March 2025 had also cited the RSPP congress of March 2023 (EU reasons, as quoted by the High Court, The Bell).

The United Kingdom’s reasons do not mention Putin. It listed him on 15 March 2022 for formerly owning or controlling, and working as a director of, EuroChem and SUEK, which it considers to be in sectors of strategic significance to the Russian government (UK sanctions list). Switzerland adopted the EU’s list on 16 March 2022 (Interfax). Australia listed him in April 2022 (Australian Government, Interfax). Poland put him on its list of foreigners whose stay is undesirable on 26 April 2022. It described him as one of the most influential Russian entrepreneurs with close ties to the Russian government and named him as the former beneficial owner of SUEK’s Polish coal importer (Polish interior ministry).

In the United States, the State Department determined that he operates or has operated in the financial services or aerospace sector of the Russian economy. The designation took effect on 2 August 2022 (Federal Register, OFAC). New Zealand listed him on 12 October 2022 (New Zealand sanctions register), Japan on 27 January 2023 (Government of Japan) and Canada on 23 February 2023. Canada’s foreign minister listed him on the basis that there were reasonable grounds to believe he is “an associate of senior officials of the Russian regime” (The Globe and Mail). He does not appear in Ukraine’s sanctions decision of 19 October 2022 (Decree 727/2022).

His wife Aleksandra, born in Belgrade in 1977, is listed by the EU since 3 June 2022 and by Canada since 21 February 2025. Poland froze her assets from 26 April to 10 June 2022 (EU consolidated list of 22 September 2026, Canada’s consolidated autonomous sanctions list, Polish interior ministry).

His position

Melnichenko rejects the description of him as close to Putin. In March 2022 his spokesman said that he “has no relation to the tragic events in Ukraine. He has no political affiliations” (Reuters via The National). In an interview with the Swiss weekly Weltwoche, reported in July 2022, he said: “Labeling me as a close political confidant of Putin, as an oligarch closely connected to the Russian state, is absurd. I’m not an oligarch.” He called the 24 February meeting a “normal meeting” (Business Insider via Yahoo). In the Canadian court case he said he has no personal relationship with Putin or the Russian government and “does not belong to the inner circle of President Putin” (The Globe and Mail, Global News). In April 2026 his lawyer told the Swiss Federal Administrative Court that he has no ties to the Russian government and no influence on military action in Ukraine (SRF). The Swiss economics ministry argued in the same hearing that he belonged to Putin’s inner circle (SRF, Keystone-SDA via nau.ch).

Court cases

  • EU General Court, 22 January 2025 (case T-271/22): The court dismissed his challenge to the 2022 listing. It held that the EU does not need to prove a personal link to the Russian government if a person plays a leading role in key economic sectors (eucrim, Global Sanctions). According to EuroChem, his case has reached the EU Court of Justice (EuroChem, November 2025). We found no judgment on the appeal.
  • EU General Court, 26 February 2025 (case T-498/22): The court rejected Aleksandra Melnichenko’s challenge to her listing (Global Sanctions, Export Compliance Daily).
  • EU General Court, 17 December 2025 (cases T-1113/23 and T-1114/23): The court dismissed the couple’s challenges to their continued listings (Global Sanctions, European Commission, Brussels Signal).
  • Federal Court of Canada, 3 July 2025: The court dismissed his application for judicial review of the Canadian listing (The Globe and Mail).
  • Swiss Federal Administrative Court, 15 April 2026: The court held a public hearing on the couple’s appeal against their Swiss listing (Keystone-SDA via nau.ch, swissinfo). We found no judgment as of October 2026.

In Russia, the Prosecutor General’s Office sued in August 2023 to confiscate the Siberian power company Sibeco, which Melnichenko had bought in 2018 from former minister Mikhail Abyzov. It called the purchase the result of “corrupt collusion” (RFE/RL, The Moscow Times). On 6 October 2023 the prosecutors withdrew the claim after a settlement. Under it, the Melnichenko-controlled company Kuzbassenergo paid money for the shares to children’s charity (Lenta.ru, citing TASS, The Insider). We found no criminal case against Melnichenko.

The yachts

Italian police took Sailing Yacht A, built by Nobiskrug in Germany with an interior by Philippe Starck, in the port of Trieste in March 2022 (Reuters via The National, Forbes). Melnichenko has challenged the seizure since May 2022. In May 2026 the EU Court of Justice ruled in case C-483/23, referred by an Italian court, that assets held through a trust can be frozen where the sanctioned person can use, benefit from or dispose of them (The Royal Gazette, financialcrime.lu). In June 2026 the yacht remained in Trieste, and the Italian state was bearing upkeep costs of about 10 million euros a year (Megayacht News, YACHT). In June 2022 his Motor Yacht A was anchored in Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, which has not imposed sanctions (AP via Irish Examiner, Fortune).

We checked the US, UK, Canadian and Polish lists on 10 October 2026, the New Zealand register on 11 October 2026 and the EU list as of 22 September 2026, including the EU’s amending acts of that day.

About this profile

This profile was rewritten in October 2026. The 2022 version contained a list of other businessmen; the statements there that someone was a “close ally” and a “close friend” of Putin concerned two of them, not Melnichenko. The old version also said that he became the sole owner of MDM Bank in 1997, that the IFC bought 5 percent of MDM Bank after he stepped down in 2007, and that the EU sanctioned him on the day of the invasion. In fact he and Sergei Popov held equal stakes until 2006, Popov kept the bank, and the EU listed Melnichenko on 9 March 2022. Its conclusion that he “is not regarded as a Russian oligarch” because his wealth is not tied to the government was an unsourced opinion. These statements have been removed. The net worth figure in the box at the top of this page comes from Forbes and carries its date.

Sources

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