Switzerland extends freeze on Yanukovych's assets for another year - embassy in Kyiv
KYIV. Dec 20 (Interfax) - The Federal Council of Switzerland has extended the freeze on assets of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his associates for another year, the Swiss embassy to Ukraine said.
"On 19 December, the Federal Council decided to extend for one year the preventive freeze on the assets of ousted president Viktor Yanukovych and his entourage," the embassy wrote on Twitter.
"The purpose of this decision is to support the judicial cooperation between Switzerland and Ukraine," it said.
Switzerland put a freeze on Yanukovych's assets totaling 70 million Swiss francs in 2014.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry said on December 9, 2016, that the Federal Council extended the freeze on Yanukovych's assets until February 2018.
It noted that the Federal Act on the Freezing and the Restitution of Illicit Assets held by Foreign Politically Exposed Persons (FIAA), which took effect on July 1, 2016, was regulating the duration of asset freezes and annual extensions. An extension is possible if mutual legal assistance is productive.
The Federal Council of Switzerland decided on December 20, 2017, to extend for one year the freeze on assets of the ousted presidents of Tunisia and Ukraine, Ben Ali and Yanukovych, and their entourage.