Translated material
The EU warned about the possible lifting of sanctions against Yanukovych's entourage
EU representatives warned that sanctions against people close to Viktor Yanukovych could be lifted in the spring of 2016, as the Ukrainian authorities do not take measures to prosecute those former functionaries who remained in Ukraine. “Many in the EU are fed up with Ukraine,” one Western official told The Wall Street Journal.
The source of the publication noted that soon people from Yanukovych's entourage may again gain access to accounts frozen under the sanctions. “After that, no one will support the new imposition of sanctions,” he said.
Critics accuse Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin of being too slow in investigating high-level corruption cases and claim he has not taken sufficient action to crack down on bribes in his office.
- Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Vitaliy Kasko earlier warned that the EU could lift sanctions against Yanukovych's circle as early as March 2016. "The logic of the European Union is simple - in their opinion, two years is enough for the law enforcement agencies of the respective state to figure out what kind of money it is and whether it was obtained by criminal means," Kasko said.
- The EU imposed sanctions against Viktor Yanukovych and people close to him after Yanukovych was removed from power at the end of February 2014 as a result of mass protests in Kyiv. Yanukovych and some people from his entourage fled the country, but many former functionaries remained in Ukraine. Not a single major trial against suspected corruption in Ukraine has been held.