Business news from Ukraine

Cypriot citizen Vadym Iermolaiev, owner of the 18-enterprise Alef diversified corporation, whose assets were estimated by Forbes Ukraine at $220 million before the war, has been added to the Ukrainian sanctions list.

Presidential Decree No. 850 of December 23, among other things, blocks its assets for 10 years, revokes or suspends licenses and other permits, prohibits participation in privatization and the purchase of land, and suspends the fulfillment of economic and financial obligations.

Alef-Vinal-Crimea LLC is also on the list of legal entities subject to sanctions.

According to the website, the main assets of the Alef Corporation include UDK Gazbeton, manufacturers of PVC profile Miroplast and window and door fittings Axor Industry, apple exporter Sady Dnipra and Agroalliance, ALEF Estate, SEZ Potoky, medical device manufacturer ABM Technology, pipe manufacturer Oscar, and concrete producer Elba.

The corporation and Mr. Yermolaiev have not yet publicly commented on the sanctions.

Another decree No. 851 of the same day imposed sanctions, in particular, against Leonid (Len) Blavatnik, a British citizen, ex-partner of Russian businessmen Viktor Vekselberg and Oleg Deripaska, founder and chairman of the board of directors of Acces Industries, a holding company and investment firm that estimates its diversified portfolio of investments worldwide at more than $35 billion. In particular, it is the majority owner of Warner Music Group. Other assets include DAZN Group and LyondelBassel.

The list also includes Ukrainian citizen Vyacheslav Yutkin, who until 2016 was the first deputy chairman of Prominvestbank, a Ukrainian subsidiary of the Russian VEB that invested in Ukrainian real estate.

As of May 2018, he was the owner of the Hlibivka country house hotel near Kyiv, the Yaremche Club boutique hotel (Yaremche, Ivano-Frankivsk region), the Pushcha Congress Hotel (Pushcha-Vodytsia, Kyiv region), and the five-star boutique hotel Bank Hotel Congress Hall Art Butik (Lviv).