11 August 2014
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine submitted on Aug. 8 a bill, “On Sanctions,” that enables authorities to impose sanctions against those who threaten the territorial integrity of Ukraine or its security, or violate the human rights of Ukrainian citizens. The law lists 28 types of sanctions that might be imposed, including asset freezes, trade bans, limits or bans of transit of any resources though Ukraine, declining to fulfill economic or financial obligations, cancelling business contracts, cancelling licenses or any other permits and banning entry to Ukraine.
The sanctions can be applied to individuals or corporations. The sanctions can be initiated by the president, parliament, government, central bank or State Security Service. They should be approved by Ukraine’s National Security Council (NSC), and also by parliament if a sanction stipulates cancellation of an international deal approved by parliament.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk stated on Aug. 8 that the Cabinet has prepared a list of 172 individuals and 65 companies/organizations against which the sanctions might be imposed. In case the bill is approved as legislation on Aug. 12, the next day the NSC will consider the sanctions from the list offered by the government.
Alexander Paraschiy: The Cabinet’s move to impose sanctions looks logical and long-awaited given that Ukraine, which asked the U.S. and EU governments for sanctions against Russia, hasn’t imposed any itself. The sanctions that the government is trying to impose this week are unlikely to be strict, though there is a high risk that Russia will impose countersanctions very soon. If so, a sanctions battle may escalate in the next weeks.
Among the most strict sanctions that theoretically might be imposed against Russia, if the government’s law is adopted, are a ban of oil and gas transit though Ukraine and the government declining to pay all its financial obligations to Russia, including the USD 3 bln debt that Russia provided in December 2013.