You're reading: Ex-officials’ frozen assets in Ukraine to be returned to budget – Nalyvaichenko

The frozen assets and property located in Ukraine which belong to former Ukrainian officials are under state control and will be returned to the national budget, Chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Valentyn Nalyvaichenko has said.

“All the money is in Ukraine. All of them [the assets] are virtually under control of the state and have been reserved for return to the budget,” Nalyvaichenko told reporters in Kyiv on March 31.

According to Nalyvaichenko, “the algorithm of the return is a court ruling, and they won’t be only transferred back, but could also be used and funneled into financing, including social programs.”

He said that the arrested assets belonging to former Ukrainian officials “haven’t been siphoned from the state and are in actual possession by the state.”

Nalyvaichenko also said that the Ukrainian security service will retain control of the assets for the time being, and that “all attempts to get [the funds] unfrozen under any pretext have failed.”