CJEU ruling: sanctioned persons have no right to attend or vote at general meetings
13 March 2026
- CJEU ruling on Russia sanctions: exclusion of sanctioned shareholders from attending and voting at general meetings
- CJEU confirms STRABAG SE’s interpretation of asset freeze
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled yesterday in case C-465/24 – a case that does not directly concern STRABAG SE – that the freezing of shares under sanctions law means that holders of share certificates may not attend or vote at a general meeting.
Since imposing sanctions first on Oleg Deripaska and subsequently on MKAO Rasperia Trading Limited, STRABAG SE has consistently ensured full compliance with the asset freeze mandated by EU sanctions, in particular by excluding Rasperia from attending and voting at its general meetings. This approach has now been confirmed – in a comparable case – by the CJEU as the authority responsible for interpreting the EU sanctions regulation.
Since imposing sanctions first on Oleg Deripaska and subsequently on MKAO Rasperia Trading Limited, STRABAG SE has consistently ensured full compliance with the asset freeze mandated by EU sanctions, in particular by excluding Rasperia from attending and voting at its general meetings. This approach has now been confirmed – in a comparable case – by the CJEU as the authority responsible for interpreting the EU sanctions regulation.
The actions brought by Rasperia against STRABAG SE to challenge resolutions adopted at general meetings, as well as the preliminary reference procedure initiated by the Austrian Supreme Court of Justice (OGH) before the CJEU on questions relating to sanctions law, are still pending. In our view, however, this CJEU ruling now settles the decisive sanctions-law issue concerning the prohibition on attending general meetings and the exclusion of Rasperia’s voting rights.
