The head of the esports club Natus Vincere Yevgen HarisPilton Zolotarev commented on removing sanctions from the organization Virtus.pro. NAVI's CEO believes that, despite the legal purity, this is a standard Russian scheme.
Earlier, representatives of the Virtus.pro club stated that the club is currently undergoing the process of returning the tag to the competitions of the largest tournament operators. Also, in the financial report of the VK company, the amount of the sale of VP to an Armenian investor was found, which was ~$3 million. You can read more about this here.
Why were sanctions imposed against Virtus.pro?
Various organizers of esports championships have imposed restrictions on the use of the Virtus.pro tag due to the club's connection with the Russian government amid the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The organization's involvement in the Russian government is also confirmed by the fact that US sanctions were imposed against former CEO Anton Sneg1 Cherepennikov. You can study the situation in more detail here.
A few words about vp's unbanning. In 2014, following the Crimea annexation, the first sanctions were imposed on russia. In response, the russian government introduced "killer" anti-sanctions and banned the import of certain food products, including European cheese and seafood.
— Yevhen Zolotarov (@NAVIHarisPilton) March 23, 2023
When will sanctions be over for VP?
After the sale of the club to an Armenian investor previously unknown in the esports community, the organization was allowed to perform under its tag in all disciplines except CS:GO. Club players were forced to play under the tag Outsiders. ESL and BLAST spent quite a long time studying the transaction details and thinking about lifting the sanctions.
On March 22, it became known that the tournament operator BLAST lifted sanctions from Virtus.pro. After him, the sanctions will be lifted by ESL, but only from March 28, after the end of ESL Pro League Season 17. Thus, the club's players can perform under their tag at the upcoming RMR competition before BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023.
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