(Bloomberg) -- Russian fertilizer tycoon Dmitry Mazepin lost his legal challenge to European Union sanctions imposed on him soon after the invasion of Ukraine.

The EU cited “a set of sufficiently specific, precise and consistent” indicators to show “that Mr. Mazepin is a leading businessperson involved in a sector providing a substantial source of revenue to the Russian Government,” the EU’s General Court ruled in Luxembourg on Wednesday. “Consequently, the sanctions imposed on Mr. Mazepin are such as to increase the costs of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.”

Dozens of wealthy Russian business bosses, including Roman Abramovich, and family members have taken to the EU’s Luxembourg-based courts in an attempt to break free from sanctions and regain control of their assets, mansions and superyachts.  

The founder of fertilizer maker UralChem was added to the EU’s sanctions list in March last year. He was one of the last Russian businessmen to meet with President Vladimir Putin before the invasion, according to the Kremlin website.

The two men also met in November, 2022 to discuss the fertilizer market, which Mazepin used as an opportunity to complain about the sanctions and thank Putin for his support. Last month Putin awarded Mazepin with the the Order of Alexander Nevsky, one of the oldest Russian state awards, for his work.

Mazepin, whose fortune was estimated at $900 million in 2022 by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, had to give up control of UralChem and Uralkali PJSC after the sanctions hit.

The EU also targeted Mazepin’s son Nikita, a former Russian Formula 1 driver. The bloc has sanctioned close to 1,800 people and entities since Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, starting with the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and followed by the invasion of its neighbor in February last year. 

The case is: T-282/22 Mazepin v. Council.

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