The General Court of the European Union has annulled a 2019 decision that extended asset freezes on ex-President Viktor Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr over their alleged embezzlement of Ukrainian state funds.
“The (European) Council failed to demonstrate that the rights of the defense and the right to effective judicial protection were respected in the criminal proceedings,” the first instance court wrote in its official statement on June 9.
Yet despite winning in court, Yanukovych and his son’s assets remain frozen. In March, the European Council prolonged sanctions against the pair for another year.
“They remain under restrictive measures,” said EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Peter Stano on June 9.
“We have taken the (court’s) decision into account, but the decision and its consequences are being analyzed by the European Council,” Stano also said.
But with a European court backing the fugitive president, future sanctions remain in question. While the Council prolongs sanctions against Ukraine’s former government officials every year by a consensus vote, Yanukovych remains one of the few top officials still restricted by European sanctions.
On March 3, the ambassadors of the EU member states agreed to remove high-profile Yanukovych era officials – fugitive former Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk and former National Bank Head Serhiy Arbuzov – from the EU’s sanction list.
European pardon
The sanctions against Yanukovych, and members of his team, were first introduced in 2014 after the Euromaidan Revolution ousted the pro-Kremlin politicians from power. Yanukovych and his allies took part in suppressing the initially peaceful protest, killing over 100 demonstrators.
After Yanukovych was gone, endemic corruption was uncovered. Yanukovych’s lavish Mezhyhirya Residence, a 140-hectare estate about 10 kilometers north of Kyiv, has been renamed the museum of corruption.
Yanukovych was sentenced to 13 years for treason in absentia in 2019. Two years later, the National Security and Defense Council ordered the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, to investigate possible treason committed by a number of high-profile lawmakers during Yanukovych’s reign.
Nonetheless, one by one, Yanukovych’s henchmen are being taken off the sanctions list.
In 2020, the EU dropped sanctions against Yanukovych-era Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky. A year later, Tabachnyk and Arbuzov followed.
The EU sanctions currently target 177 people and 48 entities accused of undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Each year, the number drops.
Those who remain on the list include Yanukovych, the ex-president’s son Oleksandr, ex-Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko, his deputy Viktor Ratushnyak, ex-Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka and his son ex-lawmaker Artem, fugitive oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko and former Tax Service Head Oleksandr Klymenko.
All of them were in office during Yanukovych’s reign and are wanted in Ukraine for corruption, abuse of office and treason. Most of them are hiding from prosecution in Russia.
