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General Court unfreezes assets of former Ukrainian officials Azarovs, Kliuiev, Arbuzov, Stavytskyi
This was announced by reporter Rikard Jozwiak from Brussels in his Twitter, Censor.NET informs.
"In response to the crisis in Ukraine which began at the end of 2013, the Council decided, on 5 March 2014, to freeze the assets and economic resources of the persons identified as responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian State funds. Mykola Yanovych Azarov and Sergej Arbuzov, who both successively held the position of Prime Minister of Ukraine until February 2014, together with Mr Azarov's son (Oleksii Mykolayovych Azarov) and two other Ukrainians (Sergiy Klyuyev, brother of the former Head of Administration of the President of Ukraine, and Edward Stavytskyi, former Minister for Energy and the Coal Industry of Ukraine) were, for the period from 6 March 2014 to 5 March 2015, included on the list of persons subject to the freezing of assets on the ground that they were the subject of preliminary investigations in Ukraine relating to offences connected with misappropriation of Ukrainian State funds and their illegal transfer outside Ukraine.
"The five Ukrainians brought proceedings before the General Court with a view to having their inclusion on the list annulled.
"In today's judgments, the General Court upholds the actions brought by the five Ukrainians and annuls the freezing of assets imposed on them for the period from 6 March 2014 to 5 March 2015.
"The Court finds that, as in the Portnov case, the Council identified the five Ukrainians as being responsible for misappropriation of funds solely on the basis of a letter of 3 March 2014 from the
office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine stating that investigations of those persons had made it possible to establish that large amounts of public funds had been misappropriated and had
subsequently been unlawfully transferred out of Ukraine.
"The Court takes the view that that letter provides no details concerning the matters specifically alleged against the five Ukrainians or the nature of their responsibility.
"The Court concludes that the freezing of the assets of the five Ukrainians does not satisfy the designation criteria, and therefore annuls that measure for the period from 6 March 2014 to 5 March 2015," the ruling reads.
it's the general court of the EU that has annulled sanctions against the 5 Ukrainians. EU has two months to appeal to ECJ #Ukraine #Russia
- Rikard Jozwiak (@RikardJozwiak) 28 января 2016 This information has been subsequently confirmed by the General Court on its website."In response to the crisis in Ukraine which began at the end of 2013, the Council decided, on 5 March 2014, to freeze the assets and economic resources of the persons identified as responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian State funds. Mykola Yanovych Azarov and Sergej Arbuzov, who both successively held the position of Prime Minister of Ukraine until February 2014, together with Mr Azarov's son (Oleksii Mykolayovych Azarov) and two other Ukrainians (Sergiy Klyuyev, brother of the former Head of Administration of the President of Ukraine, and Edward Stavytskyi, former Minister for Energy and the Coal Industry of Ukraine) were, for the period from 6 March 2014 to 5 March 2015, included on the list of persons subject to the freezing of assets on the ground that they were the subject of preliminary investigations in Ukraine relating to offences connected with misappropriation of Ukrainian State funds and their illegal transfer outside Ukraine.
"The five Ukrainians brought proceedings before the General Court with a view to having their inclusion on the list annulled.
"In today's judgments, the General Court upholds the actions brought by the five Ukrainians and annuls the freezing of assets imposed on them for the period from 6 March 2014 to 5 March 2015.
"The Court finds that, as in the Portnov case, the Council identified the five Ukrainians as being responsible for misappropriation of funds solely on the basis of a letter of 3 March 2014 from the
office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine stating that investigations of those persons had made it possible to establish that large amounts of public funds had been misappropriated and had
subsequently been unlawfully transferred out of Ukraine.
"The Court takes the view that that letter provides no details concerning the matters specifically alleged against the five Ukrainians or the nature of their responsibility.
"The Court concludes that the freezing of the assets of the five Ukrainians does not satisfy the designation criteria, and therefore annuls that measure for the period from 6 March 2014 to 5 March 2015," the ruling reads.
