Verkhovna Rada committee approves sanctions against Rosneft and its subsidiaries in Ukraine

The committee on defense and security has approved the draft resolution on imposing sanctions against Russia's oil company Rosneft and its subsidiaries in Ukraine.

As reported by Censor.NET, People's Front MP Tetiana Chornovol claims Rosneft to be the largest taxpayer in the Russian Federation, financing the military aggression against Ukraine. In fact, over the last two years, Ukrainian citizens, who employ its services, have funded the killing of themselves: "It is not only about Rosneft but also those companies it co-founded and which shares it holds. For example, such gas stations as TNK, Zolotoi Gepard, Smile belong to Vostok Ltd employing "All for the good of Russia" motto on its website."

According to Chornovol, Rosneft is said to have been involved in corruption schemes since Yanukovych was in power, while now it owes taxes to Ukraine.

Serhii Pashynskyi, the committee's chairman, addressed Roman Nasirov, head of the State Fiscal Service, with a request to pay attention to the fact it was "unacceptable to cover up unpaid taxes of the company originating from the aggressor state."

As previously reported, in July 2014, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation, banning some Russian companies, including Rosneft, from accessing long-term U.S. capital markets. In June 2015, the company's net debt amounted to RUB 1.5 trillion (approx. $16.59 billion as of today).

Opposition Bloc MP Serhii Liovochkin voted against the imposition of sanctions. According to him, the SFS should take control of company's failure to pay taxes. Liovochkin also noted it was the government which should decide on imposing sanctions and not the parliament.

In turn, people's deputy Taras Pastukh (Samopomich) said in response that the parliament had the right to order the government to ensure the imposition of appropriate sanctions against Rosneft.