Zelensky signs into law bill to confiscate assets of individuals, legal entities that support Russia's actions

KYIV. May 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a bill, which introduces amendments into a number of Ukrainian laws and is aimed at increasing the efficiency of sanctions imposed on assets of certain individuals and legal entities, the presidential press service said on Monday.

The bill was passed by Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada on May 12, 2022.

"The law introduces a new type of sanctions by confiscating and transferring to the state assets the belong to an individual or a legal entity or assets that an individual or a legal entity can manage directly or indirectly," the press service said.

The document sets out "clear-cut criteria for including an individual or a legal entity in the list of those subject to such sanctions," it said.

According to Zelensky, the procedure for identifying and confiscating the assets of sanctioned individuals and legal entities that support Russia's actions in Ukraine one way or another "will help promptly and effectively replenish the Ukrainian budget" at Russia's expense.

"The law contains a clear-cut instruction for the authorities responsible for this process. I count on productive interaction between all of its participants," the press service quoted Zelensky as saying.

Under the new law, the central government agency responsible for implementing the state policy of forfeiting individuals' and legal entities' assets for the benefit of the state will be put in charge of searching for such assets and lodging relevant requests with courts, the Office of the President said.

"It is expected that this agency will be the Ukrainian Justice Ministry, which will have to organize work to detect and search for assets subject to blocking that belong to individuals and legal entities listed in the decisions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine," the Office of the President said.

The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine will be in charge of handling administrative proceedings in cases related to enforcing sanctions by forfeiting assets for the benefit of the state, it said.

Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada on April 21 adopted a bill on sanctions against certain individuals' assets, but Zelensky then returned the bill to the parliament with his own proposals.

On May 12, the Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of passing the bill, in which the president-proposed amendments were taken into account.