Sanctions alert: in La Rochelle, the Russian vessel Shtandart continues to circumvent EU regulations, despite the clarification from the European Council and the decision by the French Council of State

Letter from the ‘Union des Ukrainiens de France’ and the ‘No Shtandart in Europe’ collective to the European Commission, for the attention of the department responsible for monitoring the application of sanctions.

https://bit.ly/european-commision-sanctions-shtandart-la-rochelle-en

From :

• « Union of Ukrainians in France » (Union des Ukrainiens de France)
• « No Shtandart in Europe » whistleblower collective

To the attention of :

• Mr David O’Sullivan, EU Special Envoy for Sanctions, European Commission
• Mrs Valérie Drezet-Humez, Head of the European Commission Representation in France
• DG for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (FISMA), European Commission

Copies :

• French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs
• Mr Gabriel Attal, Chairman of the France-Ukraine Friendship Group at the French National Assembly
• Mrs Nadia Sollogoub, President of the France-Ukraine Friendship Group in the Senate
• Mr David Samzun, Mayor of Saint-Nazaire
• Mr Jean-Charles Larsonneur

12th February 2025

Dear Madam, Dear Sir,

On behalf of the ‘Union of Ukrainians in France’ and the ‘No Shtandart in Europe’ collective, we would like to inform you that the Russian vessel Shtandart continues to violate EU restrictive measures in the port of La Rochelle, despite the clarification of the European Council of 24 June 2024. Based on the evidences available to us to date, it has the support of some French authorities, mainly, but not exclusively: Éric Turquet de Beauregard, head of the legal department at the « General Secretariat for the Sea », (Secrétariat Général de la Mer – SGMer), Éric Banel, Director General of Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture, (Directeur général des Affaires maritimes, de la pêche et de l’aquaculture – DGAMPA), Brice Blondel, Prefect of Charente-Maritime, former head of Emmanuel Macron’s cabinet, Pascal Bolot, Prefect of Morbihan, and Sandrine Gourlet, Director of the La Rochelle Atlantique « Grand Port Maritime ». The Shtandart also enjoys the full cooperation of the local authorities in La Rochelle.

We believe that, in application of European decisions, criminal sanctions with aggravating circumstances, due to their status as public officials, should be taken against certain senior civil servants because of their actions, qualified as criminal by the European Union^{1 2 3}.

We consider that the solution to these repeated infringements can only be found, due to the systematic violation of Article 3ea(4) of EU Regulation 833/2014⁴, through the banning of the Russian vessel in French territorial waters, according to what has been implemented in Spain.

We suggest that, as also provided for in European legislation⁵, the funds resulting from the circumvention of the EU regulation be seized from the accounts of the Hamburg-based company ‘Martus TV GmbH⁶ ’. It is this company that invoices the Shtandart illegal services. Part of these funds could be used to reimburse the local authorities (Granville, Camaret, Vigo, Castellón, Brest and Bordeaux) who have been cheated out of the advance payments claimed by ‘Martus TV GmbH’ on the basis of an insidious presentation of the regulation made by the Shtandart, its main lobbyist, Michel Balique, and its legal counsel, Thierry Clerc.

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1. How did the Russian ship Shtandart’s fraud against European sanctions take place in France before June 24, 2024?
   1.1 Organisation of the bypass
   1.2 Reports about the malfunctioning of the state apparatus
   1.3. European call to order
2. How the Council’s clarification starts to be applied?
3. How does the violation of European sanctions by the Russian vessel Shtandart continue after 24/06/2024?
   3.1. The General Secretariat for the Sea (SGMer) rejects the decision of the European Council
   3.2. Infringements continuing
   3.3. A staged ‘humanitarian’ alibi
   3.4. Expulsion from France’s territorial waters as the only solution
   3.5. Illegal careening, but an opportunity to end the crisis
   
   Notes
   On the same topic

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1. How did the Russian ship Shtandart‘s fraud against European sanctions take place in France before June 24, 2024?

1.1 Organisation of the bypass

According to European instructions⁷, page 19, the general coordination of EU sanctions against Russia is the responsibility of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. According to the same instruction, page 20, only the departmental prefects, the directors of the « Grands ports maritimes » and the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture (DGAMPA) are among the national authorities responsible for implementing port sanctions.

The Shtandart is on the ‘European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA): Russian flagged vessels⁸ ’ list that every EU maritime authority must apply.

Relevant evidences of the involvement of high-ranking officials in the Shtandart bypass scheme are given in a press kit⁹ shared by Vladimir Martus, a protégé of the Russian regime and its propaganda organisations^{10 11}, captain and de facto owner of the Russian vessel sailing, since 6 June 2024, under the Cook Islands flag of convenience¹².

The Shtandart case was orchestrated by Eric Banel, Director General of Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture (DGAMPA) and his head of the ‘Fleets and seafarers’ department, Christophe Lenormand.

Éric Turquet de Beauregard, head of the legal department of the « General Secretariat for the Sea » (SGMer), working under the authority of Didier Lallement (until January 2025) must be added to this. It should be remembered that SGMer has no mandate to apply port sanctions.

Shtandart‘s network of influence frequently mentions the involvement of Élisabeth Borne¹³, Prime Minister of France, from May 2022 to January 2024, although we do not know how much credence to give to these allegations. It should be noted, however, that SGMer reports directly to the Prime Minister and that Élisabeth Borne’s office did not reply to the letter sent to it on 8 July 2022¹⁴, by some thirty Franco-Ukrainian organisations and personalities calling for the EU Regulation to be applied to the Shtandart. Nor did it respond to the reminder sent on 19 December 2022¹⁵.

As a confirmation that these people knew what they were doing and what to understand from the EU regulation, we note that they did not wish to produce an official docking permit for the Shtandart, despite repeated requests from Vladimir Martus and Michel Balique. The above-mentioned senior civil servants focused on putting pressure on the departmental prefects (email from Eric Banel, above, and SGMer’s reply to the newspaper ‘Le Télégramme’, paragraph 3.1. below) to spread their word and promote their informal privileges for Shtandat while remaining in the shadows. For several months, SGMer even used CECLANT/Premar Atlantique (Maritime Prefect and Commander in Chief for the Atlantic), as its spokesperson, even though the application of port sanctions does not fall within the responsabilities of both of them, as stated above.

In defiance of paragraph 2 of Article 3ea of EU Regulation No 833/2014, Éric Turquet de Beauregard, head of the legal department of the « General Secretariat for the Sea »(SGMer) asked the Shtandart, in April 2024, to exchange its Russian flag for that of another country in order to continue to be able to call at French ports.

1.2 Reports about the malfunctioning of the state apparatus

For two years, these violations of EU regulations did not provoke much reaction in France. The fiction of Shtandart and Vladimir Martus being ‘opponents of the Russian regime’ and ‘political exiles’ risking ‘seizure’ and ‘imprisonment’ was massively promoted by the media and French authorities. Nevertheless, the offences were reported by two elected representatives:

• On 16 August 2023, David Samzun, mayor of Saint-Nazaire, warned of the fait accompli of a stopover by the Shtandart in his town, in violation of the sanctions, thanks to the approval of Fabrice Rigoulet-Roze, prefect of the Loire-Atlantique department¹⁶.
• On 3 June 2024, MP Jean-Charles Larsonneur published an opinion in the newspaper Ouest-France¹⁷.
  ‘In Brittany, the Russian ship Shtandart has been announced for the ‘Fêtes maritimes de Brest 2024’ in July. France has always allowed it to sail and enter ports despite European sanctions. From now on, the Shtandart will only be able to call if it changes flag, which is also prohibited by Europe. The Member of Parliament for Brest, Jean-Charles Larsonneur, is surprised that France ‘has not brought itself into line with European law’…’

1.3. European call to order

On 24 June 2024, to put an end to the misrepresentation and misuse of the EU regulation by the French authorities, the European Council called France to order by specifying that ‘replicas of historic ships’ are included, since 16 April 2022, in the port restrictive measures. Therefore, there is no question of ‘extending’ sanctions to the Shtandart or ‘adding’ the Shtandart to the scope of sanctions, as the Russian ship’s network of influence claims. According to the recitals (13) of Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/1744¹⁸ and Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1745¹⁹, it is a matter of ‘clarification’. ‘Clarification’ is, moreover, the term used in the letter sent by the European Commission to the “No Shtandart in Europe”²⁰ collective on 12 July 2024.

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2. How the Council’s clarification starts to be applied?

• On 7 July 2024, the Prefect of Finistère issued an order applying the European ban to all ports in his department²¹.
• On 11 July 2024, the Maritime Prefect and Commander in Chief for the Atlantic rejected pressures from the « General Secretariat for the Sea » (SGMer) and dispatched a patrol boat to block Vladimir Martus and the Shtandart, which were trying to force their way into the Roadstead of Brest (Finistère)²².
• On 11 July 2024, the Rennes administrative court rejected Thierry Clerc’s application to suspend the Finistère prefect’s order²³.
• On the afternoon of 23 July, or the morning of 24 July 2024, after crossing the Bay of Biscay, the Shtandart was informed that it was forbidden to dock in all Spanish ports²⁴.
• On 27 July 2024, after numerous infringements, the Shtandart, moored in the port of Arousa, was expelled and banned from Spanish territorial waters.²⁵
• On 14 August 2024, the prefect of La Manche department issued an order applying the European ban to all ports in his department²⁶.
• On 23 August 2024, the Shtandart tried to dock at Cancale. It was expelled by the gendarmerie and by an order of the Prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine²⁷.
• On 18 November 2024, France’s Council of State rejected the appeal lodged by ‘Martus TV GMBH’ , Maria Martus and Vladimir Martus, seeking a stay of execution of the order of 7 July 2024 by which the Prefect of Finistère refused to authorise the vessel Shtandart to enter the port of Brest and the other ports in his department²⁸.

The order of the Rennes Administrative Court, dated 11 July 2024, dismissing the Shtandart‘s appeal against the order of the Prefect of Finistère states:

‘the applicants do not raise any grounds for serious doubt as to the legality of the contested decision’.

The decision of the French Council of State, dated 18 November 2024, dismissing the Shtandart‘s appeal against the order of the Rennes Administrative Court, states in turn:

‘Under the terms of Article L. 822-1 of the Code of Administrative Justice: ‘Appeals to the Council of State are subject to a preliminary admission procedure. Admission is refused by judicial decision if the appeal is inadmissible or is not based on any serious plea’’.

The Council of State concluded: ‘None of these grounds of appeal is such as to allow the appeal to stand’. It ruled: ‘The appeal lodged by ‘Martus TV GMBH’ and others is not allowed’.

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3. How does the violation of European sanctions by the Russian vessel Shtandart continue after 24/06/2024?

3.1. The General Secretariat for the Sea (SGMer) rejects the decision of the European Council

Immediately after the clarification by the European Council on 24 June 2024, SGMer, which has no mandate to intervene, continues to claim that the Shtandart is not affected by the restrictive measures²⁹. It confirms that it has sent instructions to this effect to the maritime prefectures (Cherbourg, Brest, Toulon), which are not responsible for applying port sanctions, and to the departmental prefectures.

Le Télégramme:
‘What is the position of the French authorities on the Shtandart, a replica of the Russian frigate of Tsar Peter the Great?’

SGMer:
‘We don’t really see the issue. We consider that the Shtandart is not affected by the packages of sanctions adopted against Russia. Nor by the fourteenth and final one, adopted on Monday 24 June… It has never been linked to a direct Russian interest*, or owned by a Russian oligarch**, in the sense understood by the European regulation. What’s more, the boat is now owned by a Finnish national*** and registered under the flag of the Cook Islands…
After the Shtandart’s change of flag, an email was sent to the maritime prefectures so that this decision could also be passed on to the [departmental] prefectures and port authorities. However, if there is a risk of public disorder, these authorities are fully competent to impose bans.

Le Télégramme, 25/06/2024

* Fake news
** Obsolete version of sanctions
*** Doubtful

We have seen above, at the beginning of paragraph 2, what the prefects of Finistère, Manche and Ille-et-Vilaine and the Maritime Prefect and Commander in Chief for the Atlantic finally did with these irregular instructions from SGMer. Other prefects, however, continue to cover up the Shtandart fraud.

3.2. Infringements continuing

At the end of June, beginning of July 2024, the Shtandart was in La Rochelle’s ‘bassin des chalutiers’ without Brice Blondel, Prefect of the Charente-Maritime department, objecting.

On 6 and 7 July 2024, the Russian ship made a stopover in Les Sables d’Olonne without Gérard Gavory, Prefect of the Vendée, raising any objections.

Subsequently, in addition to the illegal stopover in La Rochelle on 5 and 6 August 2024³⁰ , reported by the ‘No Shtandart in Europe’ collective to the European Commission³¹, the Shtandart made another stop on 28 August 2024 at Port-Haliguen (Quiberon)³² with the consent of Pascal Bolot, Prefect of Morbihan. The excuse given was to ‘fill up with water and supplies’. However, it turns out that the Russian vessel had been anchored off Port-Haliguen for the previous two days, with the agreement of Maritime Prefect and Commander in Chief for the Atlantic³³, for the purpose of ‘resupplying’.

In the summer of 2024, hundreds of articles from the propaganda organs, with which the Shtandart is in regular contact, and the Russian media celebrated Vladimir Martus as the national hero of the fight against sanctions and against the European institutions. This is indeed shown by a simple Google search under ‘Штандарт’.

The two papers below, published when the Russian vessel was calling at La Rochelle in August 2024, are particularly interesting:

• SPB Dnevnik, 6 August 2024: ‘Russian sailing ship Shtandart will attempt to violate EU sanctions again.’ (Ru)
• Komsomolskaya-Pravda, 6 August 2024: ‘ Russian yacht ‘Shtandart’ to make third attempt to breach EU sanctions’. (Ru)

3.3. A staged ‘humanitarian’ alibi

Since September 2024, we have lost count of the number of times the Shtandart has called at La Rochelle. With the exception of two or three port calls supported by gale warnings, paragraph 4 of Article 3ea of Regulation (EU) no. 833/2014 relating to the safety of human life at sea is being abused to ‘justify’ ‘technical calls’ or ‘refuelling calls’, or even with the aim of taking on board paying passengers or organising paying tours and receptions on board.

Although prohibited in European ports, the Google maps address of the ‘Frigate Shtandart’ is still, to this day :
‘Office of Bassin des Chalutiers,
Shtandart vessel,
Eric Tabarly square,
Quay of Honour,
17000 La Rochelle’.

The address on the Facebook page of the company ‘Shtandart Project’, domiciled in Saint Petersburg is, to date :
‘Quay of Honour,
17000 La Rochelle
France’.

Charente-Maritime is therefore a department which, in a break with the practices of all other European countries, continues to be an outlaw, placing itself at the legal antipodes of Finistère, whose decisions relating to Shtandart have been confirmed by the Administrative Court of Rennes and by the French Council of State.

3.4. Expulsion from France’s territorial waters as the only solution

To put an end to these abuses, the ‘No Shtandart in Europe’ collective has asked the DGAMPA³⁴ to ban the Russian vessel from France’s territorial waters, as the Spanish authorities have done for theirs. Over there, the Shtandart is a thing of the past, for everyone’s peace of mind. Vladimir Martus is not talking about it, nor is the Russian press.

As long as no authority opposes Vladimir Martus’s choice to remain stationary off French shores, he will be able to use harassment and humanitarian media blackmail in order to force his way into French ports by using passengers and crew as complacent hostages.

Without the intervention of the authorities, or with the complicity of some of them, it is possible to predict future events. The scenario for the spring of 2025 is already written.

‘Arcachon boatshow’ will be held from 18 to 21 April 2025. The tallship Belem has been announced there. The ‘Gulf of Morbihan Week’ will take place from 26 May to 1 June 2025. During these two close events, it is quite easy to predict the score that will be played by Vladimir Martus.

3.5. Illegal careening, but an opportunity to end the crisis

At the moment, with the consent of Sandrine Gourlet, CEO of the Atlantic Seaport, the Shtandart is illegally dry-docked for careening, servicing and maintenance on a quay at La Rochelle La Pallice, which is off-limits to the public.

The Shtandart will therefore be ready for the journey we recommend to Tangiers, the nearest sanction-free port, as a first stop. We believe that the expulsion date could be 25 February 2025. Vladimir Martus will not be able to plead winter weather as a reason for refusing to set sail. It was on this date last year that he left La Rochelle for the ‘Escale à Sète’ festival. On that occasion, he already made a stop in the Moroccan port.

The ‘Union of Ukrainians in France’ and the whistleblower collective ‘No Shtandart in Europe’ would like to thank Mr David O’Sullivan, EU sanctions envoy, for the attention his office has given to previous alerts. They take the liberty of once again requesting the European Commission to compel the French authorities to apply Article 3ea of EU Regulation 833/2014, to initiate criminal proceedings against public officials guilty of offences benefiting the Russian interests of Shtandart, to seize the funds of ‘Martus TV GmbH’, acquired in violation of the restrictive measures, and to have the Russian vessel Shtandart banned from French territorial waters.

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Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require any further information.

Yours sincerely,

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« In La Rochelle, the Russian vessel Shtandart continues to circumvent EU regulations, despite the clarification from the European Council and the decision by the French Council of State » by « Union des Ukrainiens de France » and « No Shtandart in Europe » is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

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Notes

1. European Council, 12/12/2023 – Council and Parliament reach political agreement to criminalise violation of EU sanctions (En) ↩︎
2. European Parliament, 12/03/2024 – EU sanctions: new rules to crack down on violations (En) ↩︎
3. European Council, 12/04/2024 – Council gives final approval to introduce criminal offences and penalties for EU sanctions’ violation (En) ↩︎
4. European Union law – Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine, updated 17/12/2024 (En) ↩︎
5. European Council, 09/06/2023 – EU sanctions: Council finalises position on law that aligns penalties for violations (En) ↩︎
6. Northdata – Martus TV GmbH, Hamburg, Germany (En) ↩︎
7. European Commission: National competent authorities for the implementation of EU restrictive measures (sanctions) (En) ↩︎
8. European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) : Russian flagged vessels (En) ↩︎
9. Vladimir Martus, 28/08/2024 – Shtandart press kit (En) ↩︎
10. Ouest-France, 29/03/2024 – The Russian ship Shtandart, authorised to dock in French ports, embarrasses its protectors (Fr) ↩︎
11. Ouest-France, 29/03/2024 – Putin’s opponent or propagandist, who is the captain of the Shtandart invited to Brittany? (Fr) ↩︎
12. Cook Islands ships registry, 06/06/2024 – Shtandart registration (En) ↩︎
13. No Shtandart In Europe, 05/02/2025 – Elisabeth Borne and the Russian ship “Shtandart”, violating European port sanctions (Fr) ↩︎
14. Oleh Sensov, Roman Sushchenko, 08/07/2024 – Letter to Mrs. Elisabeth Borne, Prime Minister – Request for cancellation of the derogation from sanctions. (En) ↩︎
15. No Shtandart In Europe, 19/12/2024 – The Russian ship « Shtandart » case: reminder letter to French Prime Minister (En) ↩︎
16. Mayor of Saint-Nazaire, 16/08/2023 – Press release (Fr) ↩︎
17. Ouest-France, 03/06/2024 – The Russian ship Shtandart in Brest? « France does not apply the European rule” (Fr) ↩︎
18. European Union law, 24/06/2024 – Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/1744 of 24 June 2024 amending Decision 2014/512/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine (En) ↩︎
19. European Union law, 24/06/2024 – Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1745 of 24 June 2024 amending Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine (En) ↩︎
20. European Commission, 12/07/2024 – Letter to “No Shtandart in Europe” (En) ↩︎
21. Prefect of Finistère, 07/07/2024
    – Order prohibiting the entry of a vessel into the port of Brest and other ports in Finistère, page 1/2
    – Order prohibiting the entry of a vessel into the port of Brest and other ports in Finistère, page 2/2   ↩︎
22. Le Télégramme 11/07/2024 – Pending the court decision, the Shtandart is waiting at the entrance of the Roadstead of Brest under escort. (Fr) ↩︎
23. Rennes Administrative Court, 11/07/2024 – Order dismissing ‘Shtandart’s’ application for suspension of the Finistère prefectoral order (Fr) ↩︎
24. Outono, 24/07/2024 – Spain vetoes the Russian frigate ‘Shtandart’, which intended to reach Vigo, in all its ports (En) ↩︎
25. El Mundo, 27/07/2024 – Russian sailboat expelled from Spanish waters after anchoring in Galicia without permission (Sp) ↩︎
26. La Manche Libre, 14/08/2024 – Granville. Ban on the Shtandart calling at Granville: an order published by the prefecture (Fr) ↩︎
27. Actu Fr, 23/08/2024 – The Russian ship Shtandart is banned from docking on the Ille-et-Vilaine coast after arriving in Cancale (Fr) ↩︎
28. French Council of State, 18/11/2024 – Ruling rejecting Shtandart’s appeal against the order of the Rennes administrative court (En) ↩︎
29. No Shtandart In Europe, 27/06/2024 – SANCTIONS ALERT! Didier Lallement, Secretary General for the Sea, scoffs at the European Council’s recent decision and continues to encourage fraud by the Russian vessel « Shtandart ». (En) ↩︎
30. AFP, 07/08/2024 – The Russian sailing ship Shtandart defies sanctions and calls in… at La Rochelle (Fr) ↩︎
31. No Shtandart In Europe, 12/08/2024 – Report to the European authorities about the illegal stopover of the Russian « Shtandart » in La Rochelle with the complicity of Brice Blondel, Prefect of Charente-Maritime. (En) ↩︎
32. Le Marin, 28/08/2024 – The Russian ship ‘Shtandart’ made a brief stopover in Quiberon (Fr) ↩︎
33. Ouest-France, 26/08/2024 – The Russian vessel Shtandart anchored off Quiberon (Fr) ↩︎
34. No Shtandart In Europe, 29/01/2025 – Éric Banel, Director General for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture, being part of the circumvention of EU sanctions by the Russian « Shtandart ». (Fr) ↩︎

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