You're reading: EU follows through on asset freezes of Yanukovych, other former Ukrainian officials

The strength of the European Union’s bite has matched the sound of its bark. On March 5, the Council of the European Union froze the assets of 18 former high-level officials, including fugitive ex-President Viktor Yanukovych. 

“As agreed at the Foreign Affairs Council on March 3, the
Council adopted EU sanctions focused on the freezing and recovery of
misappropriated Ukrainian state funds,” reads
the Council of Europe statement
. “Today’s decision targets 18 persons
identified as responsible for such misappropriation whose assets within the
European Union will be frozen. The sanctions also contain provisions
facilitating the recovery of the frozen funds, once certain conditions are met.”

Although the list of persons subject to sanctions will be
published on Feb. 6 in the EU Official Journal, EU spokesperson in Ukraine
David Stulik said the list presumably will include some or all who Austria and
two other European countries have sanctioned.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has accused Yanukovych and his inner-circle of absconding with up to $70 billion and leaving the state treasury virtually empty.  

In recent days, 25 former officials, including Yanukovych
and his older son Oleksandr Yanukovych, had their bank
accounts frozen in Austria, Lichtenstein and Switzerland
. Austria froze the
assets of 18 people, while Switzerland and Lichtenstein sanctioned an identical
list of 20 people.

The EU stated that the asset-freezing measures will
initially apply for twelve months starting on March 6. 

The U.S. and Canada have already imposed travel bans on former officials deemed responsible for the violence in Kyiv during which some 100 people died in clashes between anti-government protesters and police. The U.S. has also advised banks to provide enhanced scrutiny to private accounts held by or on behalf of former senior political figures. 

Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].