Zelensky wants restrictions on oligarchs to extend beyond Ukraine

At a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on December 30, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the authorities to work out a mechanism for cooperation with international and foreign partners so that the oligarch status and related restrictions are applied including beyond the country’s borders.

This was announced by Justice Minister Denys Maliuska, who spoke with Rada TV, Ukrinform reports.

"One of the tasks set by the President at the latest meeting of the National Security and Defense Council is to work out a mechanism for cooperation with our international and foreign partners so that the oligarch status and relevant restrictions do not remain exclusively within our country. So that our partners react as well as also establish additional controls over the assets and activities of such persons abroad. We will be working to this end," the minister said.

According to Maliuska, the status of an oligarch will "automatically" lead to problems for doing business abroad. However, the Minister stressed that Ukraine wants this to be legally fixated.

"The resistance is great, the war isn’t over yet. There are a few more lines of defense that will obviously be used by oligarchs. But until nothing unpredictable happened, they didn’t invent anything that we wouldn’t expect in advance," he said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on December 30, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said the government would start formally designating certain businessmen as “oligarchs” as early as May 2022.

On September 23, the Verkhovna Rada passed the law "On Prevention of Threats to National Security Related to Excessive Influence of Persons Who Have Significant Economic or Political Weight in Public Life (Oligarchs)." On November 4, it was signed off by Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, and the next day – by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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