The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday ruled in the 'Gyrlyan v. Russia' case, awarding the claimant the compensation in the amount of EUR 74,500, according to a judicial communiqué posted on Tuesday.

The applicant, Sergey Gyrlyan, is a Russian national who was born in 1972 and now lives in Odesa (Ukraine).

According to the case materials, Gyrlyan sold a property near Moscow in 2014 and exchanged most of the Russian rouble proceeds for USD 100,000. In March of that year he travelled with the foreign currency from Moscow's Domodedovo Airport to Odesa.

During the inspection, a Russian customs officer stopped Gyrlyan due to a large amount, which the plaintiff had in his bag. He was interrogated by police officers and an investigator, and accused of illegal transportation of foreign currency.

In December 2014, the domestic Domodedovo city court eventually ordered the confiscation of USD 90,000, rejecting his appeals that the money had been obtained lawfully and that the penalty was out of proportion to the offence.

The ECHR ruled that the Russian authorities violated Article 1 (Protection of property) of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and Fundamental Freedoms. Russia has been obliged to pay the applicant EUR 73,000 (pecuniary damage) and EUR 1,500 (non-pecuniary damage).