Ajit Karn
Zurich: The Swiss government has initiated legal action in an effort to seize assets worth more than 140.89 million dollars that are connected to the entourage of the former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, who was removed from office in 2014. According to a statement issued by Bern, the Swiss government has started legal actions with the Federal Administrative Court in order to recover money that is deemed to be of “illicit origin.”
There was a connection between those implicated and Yanukovich, who had fled to Russia after being forced from power by widespread demonstrations in 2014.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Switzerland started looking into the possibility of seizing 100 million Swiss francs in 2016, but after more discussion, they increased the sum they wanted to seize to 130 million Swiss francs.
According to the government, the assets will be kept frozen awaiting a final judgement by the Federal Administrative Court. Moreover, the administration said that any assets that are confiscated would be restored to the Ukrainian people in accordance with an international agreement.
Switzerland said that the procedure of confiscating assets was only applicable in extreme situations, such as when a foreign state had previously sought to take the assets but had been unsuccessful in doing so.
Switzerland Seeks To Seize $140 Million Linked To Ukraine Ex-President https://t.co/SicRODtElf pic.twitter.com/np4gee9IIm
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The assets that Yanukovich had based in Switzerland were froze in 2014, and Ukraine had appealed for assistance in collecting them, despite the fact that the conflict had made its operations more difficult.
According to the statement made by the administration, the assets “were the subject of criminal proceedings in Ukraine and mutual assistance processes started by Ukraine.”
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“The goal of the proceedings is to assess in the particular circumstances involved whether the assets are of unlawful origin and may thus be seized if this is determined to be the case,”
Switzerland has said that the measure has no connection to the sanctions list, which has been in place since the Russian invasion in February 2022 and relates to 1,386 Russian people.
