(Dan Tri) – Russian authorities in Crimea have confiscated the assets of Ukrainian oligarchs and politicians on the peninsula, including the apartment of the First Lady of Ukraine.
The building in Yalta, Crimea, where the apartment of the President of Ukraine and his wife is located (Photo: RT).
According to the Crimean government’s announcement on May 24, the Crimean legislature unanimously voted to confiscate the assets of oligarchs and politicians on the Crimean peninsula.
More than 130 properties were confiscated, among them cinemas, factories, shopping malls, wineries and banks.
The apartment of the First Lady of Ukraine consists of 3 rooms, located on the Black Sea coast near the resort city of Yalta.
Vladimir Konstantinov, spokesman for the Crimean legislature, said profits from the sale of confiscated property, including the apartment of the president’s wife, would be used to help the families of the dead soldiers.
The above confiscations are said to be in response to a law introduced by Ukraine last year, which makes it legal to confiscate the assets of Russian citizens and businesses without compensation.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in March that Ukraine was planning to use assets worth more than $460 million confiscated from Russian banks to rebuild the country and compensate the Ukrainian people.
Mr. Shmyhal said that Ukraine is building mechanisms to use confiscated Russian assets for reconstruction activities, supporting Ukrainian citizens and their communities to recover after Russia’s military campaign.
Prime Minister Shmyhal announced that the Ukrainian government is working with partner countries to develop a system based on international agreements.
Ukraine’s proposed system would include an international body to inventory war damage, a commission to review compensation claims and a fund to pay compensation.
According to Prime Minister Shmyhal, Ukraine is using billions of dollars in aid from the US and European Union (EU) to quickly restore devastated energy infrastructure and sectors facing difficulties due to conflict.
Prime Minister Shmygal said in January that it was estimated that Ukraine needed more than 700 billion USD to rebuild after the conflict.