Ukraine will demand to include "Medvedev’s wallet" in the tenth package of EU and UK sanctions

Ukraine will demand to include "Medvedev’s wallet" in the tenth package of EU and UK sanctions

Media report that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine plans to send letters to the line structures of European states with recommendations to implement relevant sanctions and tools against the former Russian Minister of Energy, Igor Yusufov, as personal sanctions against him have currently been imposed only in Ukraine.

The tenth package of EU sanctions against Russia is to be ready by the end of February 2023; it may include personal sanctions against individuals, further restrictions on Russian media, and disconnecting more banks from the SWIFT system. This matter is under the personal supervision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Head of the National Security and Defence Council.

Currently, 13 types of sanctions have been applied to the former Russian minister in Ukraine. These include asset blocking; complete cessation of trade operations; complete cessation of resource transit, flights, and transportation through Ukraine; prevention of capital withdrawal outside Ukraine; prohibition on participation in privatization, lease of state property; prohibition on acquiring land plots in ownership. The term of these sanctions is 10 years.

On February 20, the Cassation Administrative Court of Ukraine will hear the lawsuit of former Russian Minister of Energy businessman Igor Yusufov against the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This became known from the data of the state portal "Judiciary of Ukraine." The defendants in the lawsuit are the National Security and Defense Council and the Security Service of Ukraine.

The Russian is seeking to cancel Zelenskyy’s decree "On the application and amendment of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)" from October 19, 2022.

It should be recalled that, according to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, Igor Yusufov was a member of "Gazprom’s" board of directors for ten years. He currently owns an energy corporation that invests in oil and gas, mining, and infrastructure companies, i.e., conducts commercial activities in economic sectors that provide a high revenue part of the Russian budget, which is responsible for the war in Ukraine, thus a significant source of income for waging war.

A number of Russian media refer to Igor Yusufov as the "wallet" of the former President of Russia, and now Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitriy Medvedev. In particular, it is noted that the luxurious yacht "Universe" worth $100 million is registered in Yusufov’s name, but is actually used by Dmitriy Medvedev’s family. On the vessel, proekt.media claims, the former Russian president and prime minister have an office and secure communications, and in Russian territorial waters, it is often accompanied by naval ships.

Meanwhile, Russian journalists wrote that in 2020, Dmitriy Medvedev’s son Ilya Medvedev and Maxim Yusufov, the son of former Minister of Energy Igor Yusufov, vacationed together on the yacht.