Montenegro‘s government has imposed a new sanctions list on Ukraine and Russianpoliticians and businessmen allegedly involved in the illegal transfer of funds from Ukraine, once again aligning itself with similar EU punitive measures.
The extended list targetting those allegedly involved in the embezzlement of state funds contains ten new people and three companies believed to be close to the former Ukrainian president and the Kremlin.
According to the two Foreign Ministry’s decisions, adopted on February 22 and April 12, which BIRN has seen, the list includes, among others, the son of the former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych, Oleksandr, Russian oligarch Arkady Rotenberg, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Andrey Tscheresow, the businessman Serhiy Kurchenko and Mykola Yanovych Azarov, a former Ukrainian prime minister.
They are now banned from entering Montenegro and their property or personal accounts, if found in the country, will be seized.
Oleksandr Yanukovych came into the spotlight in Montenegro in January 2017 after Serbian media reported that he wished to invest “millions of euros” in tourism in Montenegro. His alleged plans included the construction of hotels and luxury condos in the resort of Budva. The reports were never confirmed or denied by the Montenegrin authorities.
The government document, dated April 12, noted that Oleksandr Yanukovych was under criminal investigation in Ukraine for “misuse of public funds”.
BIRN contacted Montenegro’s department for the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism, over whether it was investigating whether Yanukovych or any other persons on the sanctions list had assets now in Montenegro. It did not respond by the time of publication.
The anti-money laundering office also did not answer whether it had checked the potential assets of other Yanukovych associates in Montenegro.
The documents that BIRN has seen say three Russian companies based in Moscow that operated in Crimea, OAO VO Technopromexport, Limited Liability Company Foreign Economic Association Technopromexpor and ZAO Interavtomatika, will be banned from doing potential business in Montenegro.
In March 2014, the EU froze the assets of numerous former Ukrainian officials who were suspected of misappropriation of state property, starting with former president Viktor Yanukovych.
The EU sanctions were intended to stem the violence in eastern Ukraine and to penalise those involved in Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Although not yet an EU member country, Montenegro started membership negotiations in 2012 and allies itself closely with Brussels’ foreign policy.
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