By Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine imposed sanctions on former president and opposition politician Petro Poroshenko, including an asset freeze and a ban on withdrawing capital from the country, for what the domestic spy agency said on Thursday were “national security” reasons.
Poroshenko, one of Ukraine’s richest men who heads the largest opposition party in Ukraine’s parliament, served as president from 2014 until 2019 when he lost his bid for a second term at an election won by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The 59-year-old confectionary magnate, sometimes referred to as “the Chocolate King”, sees Zelenskiy as a long-standing political rival and accused the Ukrainian president of an unconstitutional and politically motivated move.
The domestic spy agency, known as the SBU, said the sanctions were imposed due to “existing threats to national security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine” and the “creation of obstacles to sustainable economic development”.
Ukraine also announced sanctions against jailed tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky, former co-owner of PrivatBank Gennadiy Bogolyubov, Viktor Medvedchuk, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and businessman Kostyantyn Zhevago.
Bogolyubov, Kolomoisky and Medvedchuk could not be reached for comment. Representatives for Zhevago’s company Ferrexpo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The billions made in what amounted to the sale of Ukraine and Ukrainian interests and Ukrainian security must be blocked and made to work for the protection of Ukraine and Ukrainians,” Zelenskiy said.
POLITICAL STIRRINGS
The sanctions come amid signs of increasing activity on Ukraine’s political landscape, as a push by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the war with Russia opens up the possibility of a future election.
Martial law, which Ukraine has had since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, prohibits holding elections. Zelenskiy’s mandate would normally have ended in May last year.
Before Russia invaded, Poroshenko had been the subject of several criminal investigations. He has always denied wrongdoing.
“When it is made public, people will be shocked how during the war people use funds supposedly set up to support the military (to) launder the money and give it to members of their party,” Zelenskiy said.
He did not specify who he was referring to, but Poroshenko has both a political party and a wartime charity fund to support the military.
There was a slew of criticism of the sanctions from Poroshenko’s domestic allies, as well as from some figures abroad.
Carl Bildt, a former Swedish prime minister who now serves as co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said the sanctions would damage Zelenskiy’s reputation in Europe.
“To impose sanctions on Poroshenko will be seen as pure political revenge. Sure, he had business in Russia in the past, but so did Zelenskiy,” Bildt wrote on X.
(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko and Max Hunder; Editing by Tom Balmforth and Christina Fincher)
