Council Decision (CFSP) 2025/1790 of 5 September 2025 amending Decision (CFSP) 2020/1999 concerning restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses
Date: 2025-09-05
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU restrictive measure, economic sanctions, human rights, international sanctions, natural person








L_202501790EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2025/1790


5.9.2025







            COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2025/1790
         
of 5 September 2025
         
amending Decision (CFSP) 2020/1999 concerning restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses


THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 29 thereof,


Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,

Whereas:







(1)


On 7 December 2020, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2020/1999 (1).












(2)


On 8 December 2020, by way of the Declaration by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (the ‘High Representative’), on behalf of the European Union regarding the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, the Union and its Member States reaffirmed their strong commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights around the world. The EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime underscores the Union’s determination to enhance its role in addressing serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide. Achieving the effective enjoyment of human rights for every person is a strategic goal of the Union. Respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights is a fundamental value of the Union and its common foreign and security policy.












(3)


In its conclusions of 19 December 2024, the European Council reiterated its resolute condemnation of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which constitutes a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations, and reaffirmed its continued support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. The Union does not recognise and continues to condemn the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation as a violation of international law.












(4)


Since the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation in 2014, the human rights situation in the Crimean peninsula has significantly deteriorated. Residents of the peninsula face systematic restrictions on their fundamental freedoms, and serious human rights violations occur in Crimean detention centres, including cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees.












(5)


In that context, two persons should be included in the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictive measures set out in the Annex to Decision (CFSP) 2020/1999.












(6)


Decision (CFSP) 2020/1999 should therefore be amended accordingly,





HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:



Article 1
The Annex to Decision (CFSP) 2020/1999 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Decision.


Article 2
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.




Done at Brussels, 5 September 2025.


For the Council


The President

M. BJERRE
            





(1)  Council Decision (CFSP) 2020/1999 of 7 December 2020 concerning restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses (OJ L 410 I, 7.12.2020, p. 13, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2020/1999/oj).




ANNEX
In the Annex to Decision (CFSP) 2020/1999, the following entries are added to the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies under heading ‘A. Natural persons’:











 


Names (Transliteration into Latin script)


Names


Identifying information


Reasons for listing


Date of listing




‘134.


Vadim Viktorovich BULGAKOV
a.k.a.
Vadym Viktorovych BULHAKOV


Вадим Викторович БУЛГАКОВ
(Russian spelling)


Position: Head of the Directorate of the Russian Federal Penal Enforcement Service for the “Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol”
DOB: 30.1.1969
POB: Simferopol, Ukraine
Nationality: Ukrainian, Russian
Tax ID Ukraine (ДРФО): 2523214611
Tax ID Russia (ИНН): 910218275068
Gender: male
Address: Simferopol, Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine
Associated individuals: Arkady Alexandrovich Gostev, Director of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service Aleksei Nikolaevich Pikin, Deputy Head of the Directorate of the Russian Federal Penal Enforcement Service for the “Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol”


Since November 2014, Vadim Bulgakov is the Head of the Directorate of the Russian Federal Penal Enforcement Service for the “Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol”. He holds sole authority over the Directorate’s activities and, as such, bears personal responsibility for, among other things, the proper provision of medical services to detainees and prisoners in Crimea. In this capacity, he is accountable for the widespread and systematic denial of adequate medical care and treatment to detainees and prisoners, in particular political prisoners. This amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Since his appointment as Head of the Directorate in 2014, widespread and systematic human rights violations in Crimean detention centres have been documented by the United Nations and the European Court of Human Rights. In particular, the administrative practice of ill-treatment and denial of medical care to political prisoners, which constitutes an act of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, has repeatedly occurred at the Simferopol detention centre in Crimea since his appointment. He is, in particular, responsible for the ill-treatment of human rights defenders Iryna Danylovych and Amet Suleymanov, who were denied proper medical care for several months during their imprisonment in the Simferopol detention centre.
Therefore, Vadim Bulgakov is responsible for serious human rights violations or abuses, namely cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in particular in relation to political prisoners held in detention centres in Crimea.


5.9.2025




135.


Aleksei Nikolaevich PIKIN
a.k.a.
Alexey Nikolaevich PIKIN


Алексей Николаевич ПИКИН
(Russian spelling)


Position: Deputy Head of the Directorate of the Russian Federal Penal Enforcement Service for the “Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol”
DOB: 9.8.1975
Nationality: Russian
Gender: male
Address: Voronezh, Voronezh Region, Russia
Associated individuals: Arkady Alexandrovich Gostev, Director of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service Vadim Viktorovich Bulgakov, Head of the Directorate of the Russian Federal Penal Enforcement Service for the “Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol”


Aleksei Pikin is the Deputy Head of the Directorate of the Russian Federal Penal Enforcement Service for the “Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol” since May 2016. Within that structure, he holds responsibility for the management and coordination of the regional penal system in Crimea and Sevastopol, including staff conduct, inmate welfare, and the prevention of law violations within detention facilities. Given this mandate, he bears responsibility for any human rights violations committed against individuals sentenced to imprisonment in Crimea, including abuses by staff, unlawful disciplinary measures, or failure to prevent torture, mistreatment, or denial of basic rights within the penal system. He is accountable for widespread and systematic denial of adequate medical care and treatment provision to detainees and prisoners, in particular political prisoners. This amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Since his appointment as Deputy Head in 2016, widespread and systematic human rights violations in Crimean detention centres have been documented by the United Nations and the European Court of Human Rights. In particular, the administrative practice of ill-treatment and denial of medical care to political prisoners, which constitutes an act of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, has repeatedly occurred under his authority at the Simferopol detention centre in Crimea since his appointment. He is, in particular, responsible for the ill-treatment of human rights defenders Iryna Danylovych and Amet Suleymanov, who were denied proper medical care for several months during their imprisonment in the Simferopol detention centre.
Therefore, Aleksei Pikin is responsible for serious human rights violations or abuses, namely cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in particular in relation to political prisoners held in detention centres in Crimea.


5.9.2025’








ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/1790/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)