Brussels - The EU Council extended on March 5 the EU sanctions, which were introduced in March of last year, against former Ukrainian officials suspected of misappropriating public funds.
“The Council has extended the EU restrictive measures focused on the freezing and recovery of misappropriated Ukrainian state funds,” the press service of the EU Council reported.
The measures consist in an asset freeze on persons subject to initial investigations on the embezzlement of Ukrainian state funds, including former President Viktor Yanukovych, the press service said.
“The Council has adjusted the sanctions having taken account of the progress in these judicial proceedings,” the EU Council said.
The legal acts will be published in the Official Journal on March 6, 2015.
As reported earlier that under the EU Council resolution dated March 5, the EU had frozen European assets belonging to 18 Ukrainian citizens suspected of embezzlement and involvement in human rights abuses in Ukraine.
The list includes: Viktor Yanukovych and his sons Oleksandr and Viktor; former PM Mykola Azarov and his son Oleksiy; former deputy prime minister Raisa Bohatyriova. The list also includes ex-interior minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko, former prosecutor general Viktor Pshonka, ex-chief of the presidential administration Andriy Kliuyev and other representatives from the previous Ukrainian government.
However, the issue of a possible cancellation of the sanctions against four former top officials has been actively discussed in recent months in connection with the absence of criminal cases against them in Ukraine.
