Two more Ukrainians try to get off EU blacklist

BRUSSELS - Two more Ukrainians on the EU blacklist - the former president’s son, Oleksandr Yanukovych, and tycoon Serhiy Kurchenko - have filed objections with the EU Council in Brussels.

Diplomatic contacts said the Council’s “Coest” working group is considering their appeals, but predicted they will have to fight the decision in the EU court in Luxembourg.

“This kind of complaint is normally the first step before launching legal proceedings,” one source said.

The EU visa ban and asset freeze was imposed on 5 March, two weeks after the regime fell. It cites 18 people, including the former president himself and his other son, Viktor, for looting state money or for human rights violations.

It describes Kurchenko and Oleksandr Yanukovych as “businessmen” who are “subject to investigation in Ukraine for involvement in crimes in connection with the embezzlement of Ukrainian state funds and their illegal transfer outside Ukraine.”

The two men join former Ukrainian PM Mykola Azarov and his son, Oleksii, who filed similar EU complaints last month.

The Azarovs are using a German law firm, Alber & Geiger. It is unclear who is representing Kurchenko and Oleksandr Yanukovych, but Alber & Geiger told EUobserver it is not involved.

Ukraine’s caretaker government has estimated $70 billion was stolen from the treasury during the former regime’s four years in power, gutting vital institutions, including the Ukrainian military.

It is being assisted by EU officials and by the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation to claw back the funds.

Kurchenko, a 28-year-old banking, gas and media tycoon with close links to the former ruling clan, said in a statement published by his company, Vetek Group, on 6 March: “I am an honest Ukrainian businessman … I am ready to provide all the necessary documents and to give any assistance to the EU inspection bodies in order to prove my innocence.”

But Ukrainian prosecutors have issued a warrant for his arrest on charges he stole $100 million from a state gas firm and that he hired “titushki” - plain clothes thugs - to beat up protesters.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a Washington-based group of journalists, has also obtained documents showing that Kurchenko-linked offshore firms, including three in Cyprus, funelled huge sums via Latvia’s ABLV bank.

Oleksandr Yanukovych, 40, is a dentist by training.

He also became one of Ukraine’s richest men after gaining control of a bank on his father’s watch and is said by Forbes magazine to be worth $510 million.

The current whereabouts of the Azarovs, Kurchenko, and Oleksandr Yanukovych are unknown.

Mykola Azarov was last reported to have fled to Austria, where he has business and real estate interests. He reportedly did it before the visa ban came into force.

An EU diplomat said that if he is still there, Austria can decide at national level whether to let him stay or to kick him out. The diplomat added that, under EU sanctions rules, member states can authorise the release of frozen funds to pay for “reasonable” legal fees to fight the measures in the EU system.

“From experience I know that many persons under asset freeze use lawyers in Europe,” the contact said.