The EU Council on Wednesday decided to impose restrictive measures against two additional persons – ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr – in response to the ongoing unjustified and unprovoked military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
The Council added the pro-Russian former President of Ukraine Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr Viktorovych Yanukovych to the list of persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictive measures set out in the Annex to Decision 2014/145/CFSP for their role in undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and the state’s stability and security, as well as – in the case of Oleksandr Viktorovych Yanukovych – for conducting transactions with the separatist groups in the Donbas region of Ukraine, the European Council said on its website.
The relevant legal acts are published in the Official Journal of the EU.
The EU Council decided to extend for another year, until March 6, 2022, sanctions in the form of freezing assets for seven persons identified as responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian state funds.
The corresponding decision was published on Thursday. “The Council today decided to prolong for one more year, until March 6, 2022, the existing asset freezes directed against seven individuals identified as responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian state funds or for the abuse of office causing a loss to Ukrainian public funds. The restrictive measures against one person were prolonged until September 6, 2021, and those against two persons were not extended,” the statement said.
The EU Council noted that this decision was taken on the basis of the annual review of the measures, with the subsequent publication in the Official Journal on March 5, 2021.
The names of those, in respect of which the sanctions were not extended, were not indicated. Initially, there were 18 people in the sanction list.
The Swiss Embassy in Ukraine recalled that seven years ago the Swiss Federal Council decided to freeze all assets of ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and his entourage in the country.
“In taking this measure, the Swiss Government wished to avoid any risk of misappropriation of Ukrainian state assets. Since then, Swiss authorities have been closely cooperating with their Ukrainian counterparts in order to complete the process of restitution of these assets to the Ukrainian people following court rulings on their illicit origin,” it said on Twitter.
The Embassy also reminded that the maximum duration of such a freeze is limited to 10 years.
