The Head of Projects at ILI, Andrii Klymosiuk, spoke about current challenges and prospects for the development of sanctions legislation in Ukraine

In the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, liability for sanctions violations – including criminal liability – has still not been established in Ukraine. This was stated by Andrii Klymosiuk, Head of Projects at the Institute of Legislative Ideas, during the 11th All-Ukrainian Round Table “Application of Legislation under Martial Law in Ukraine: Current Challenges and Ways to Overcome Them.”

The ILI expert emphasized the importance of implementing the provisions of EU Directive 2024/1226 on the criminalization of sanctions violations and penalties for sanctions evasion. He also drew attention to new court practice regarding the invalidation of contracts aimed at circumventing sanctions restrictions, based on Article 228 of the Civil Code of Ukraine.

“If a court establishes that a disputed contract was concluded with the purpose of evading sanctions, and that both parties were aware of this, such a transaction is deemed to violate public order or contradict the interests of the state and society, as well as their moral foundations. Accordingly, a special legal consequence applies – the confiscation of everything obtained under such a contract,” – Andrii Klymosiuk noted.

The expert stressed that while this practice can partially compensate for the gap created by the absence of criminal liability, it cannot replace it. Therefore, it is critically important to adopt draft law No. 12406, which has been under consideration by the Verkhovna Rada for almost a year.