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assets belonging to oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, which are credited with putting Zelenskiy into office in the 2019 presidential election.
Zelenskiy’s decision to take Medvedchuk’s three TV channels off Ukrainian airwaves for allegedly spreading pro-Russia “disinformation” was sharply criticised by the Kremlin, but the western response has been muted, despite the questionable legality of the sanctions.
Assets to be seized from Medvedchuk include an oil pipeline in western Ukraine and aircraft controlled by companies affiliated with him and his associates, Danilov said.
According to Danilov, the sanctions come amid what he described as a flare-up in the fighting in the east of Ukraine, which has so far this year claimed the lives of 13 Ukrainian soldiers.
2.5​ ​Ukraine facing deepening energy crisis
FPRI BMB Ukraine: Cold winter is feeding growing Ukrainian energy crisis. ​With coal reserves running low and nuclear power plants operating at reduced capacity amid delayed repairs, Ukraine’s electricity sector is facing a deepening crisis.
At the same time, electricity consumption has spiked due to cold weather — according to Ukrenergo, power consumption in Ukraine has been 6.5% higher than forecast since the start of February.
In an appeal to the government published this week, the Ukrainian energy giant DTEK maintained that “large-scale manipulations in the electricity market” are exacerbating the crisis, in addition to the reliance on imports from Russia and Belarus. According to DTEK, Russian power was imported at “dumping prices” in 2020 and Ukrainian producers suffered losses as a result.
However, according to Ukrenergo’s executive board chairman Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, market players were warned back in October that some nuclear power plants would be operating at reduced capacity, but somehow they failed to increase coal reserves (NV Business). As a solution, Kudrytskyi suggested that power stations increase stocks by importing coal from Europe.
Meanwhile, ​bne Intellinews ​reports that Ukraine purchased more electricity from Belarus this January than it did in all of 2020. Indeed, Belarus was Ukraine’s single biggest power supplier last month, providing 67% of imported electricity. This is due in part to the fact that Belarus’ new Astravets nuclear power plant began operating at 100% capacity in January.
At the same time this increased reliance on Belarusian electricity runs contrary to steps taken by the EU in opposition to the Astravets plant. Electricity stopped being traded with Belarus in November 2020 when the nuclear plant first came online. This came after the Baltic states pledged to stop buying power from Belarus in September.
11​ UKRAINE Country Report​ March 2021 ​ ​www.intellinews.com