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That has been followed by sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk, the head of the Political Council of the Opposition Platform, For Life Party and a personal friend of Putin. Three TV stations associated with the oligarch have been closed and this week the General Prosecutor charged him with high treason and he has reportedly gone into hiding.
Zelenskiy is partly motivated by encouragement from the new Biden administration that has also started to act against Ukraine’s vested interests. In an unprecedented move the US imposed sanctions on Kolomoisky in March, who has been accused of laundering hundreds ofmns of stolen PrivatBank money through commercial structures in Cleveland.
During his trip to Kyiv last week US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pointedly met with anti-corruption activist and mentioned a “de-oligarchization” of Ukraine is needed. The IMF has also highlighted the problem in connection with the need to ensure the independence of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
Zelenskiy asked the Security Council to draw up the list in April that is part of a bill that will be submitted to the Rada but is not ready yet.
The Kyiv Post listed some of the names on the list, according to a source with the knowledge of the matter who wasn’t authorized to speak to the press.
The Security Council’s bill defines oligarchs as “businesspeople who control monopolies, own media and participate in politics, either personally or through close allies,” the Kyiv Post reported and drew up a list of the names that are most likely to appear:
Rinat Akhmetov, owner of the System Capital Management conglomerate;
Ihor Kolomoisky and his business partner Gennadiy Bogolyubov, who have extensive interests in media, finance and energy;
Dmytro Firtash who has interests in nitrogen fertilizers, titanium and energy, including control of 80% of the electricity distribution companies connected to housing, but is currently in Vienna fighting a US extradition order;
Serhiy Lovochkin, who is a politician and ally of Medvedchuk;
Victor Pinchuk who owns the Interpipe metallurgical company amongst other things;
Kostyantyn Zhevago, who owns the metallurgical company Ferrexpo but is a fugitive after he was accused of looting his banks of $178mn; Former President Petro Poroshenko who has extensive investments into consumer good, agriculture, real estate and owns two TV channels;
Viktor Medvedchuk, who had a oil pipeline that was just nationalised as part of the new sanctions imposed on him, but also has extensive businesss interests in Crimea and Russia; and
Vadym Novinsky, who is a wealthy Rada deputy.
All of them control business assets worth billions of dollars, have the political reach, and together own at least 65% of Ukraine’s TV market, reports the Kyiv Post.
9 UKRAINE Country Report XXXX 2018 www.intellinews.com