This and other aspects of the sanctions policy are discussed in the article for RBC Ukraine by Andriy Klymosiuk, the Head of the ILI projects

 First of all, it is important for Ukraine to use all possible sources of funding, including assets confiscated for violating sanctions against Russia. ‘The funds confiscated from the accomplices of Russian military aggression should be turned over to Ukraine as a victim of the aggression,’ the expert notes.

The sanctions have affected thousands of people associated with the Russian aggression, but only a small share of the confiscated assets has been transferred to Ukraine. For example, out of more than $1 billion recovered from sanctions violators in the US, only $5.9 million went to support our country.

 According to Andriy Klymosyuk, the effective use of these funds requires legislative changes at the national level of the EU members and other partner countries. There are prerequisites for this, but Europe needs to implement the EU Directive that obliges the transfer of assets recovered as part of sanctions circumvention to the victim as soon as possible.

However, Ukraine also needs to improve its legislation to more actively prosecute sanctions violators, including abroad. Therefore, together with the Ministry of Justice and other government agencies, the ILI experts have developed relevant amendments that criminalise the violation and circumvention of sanctions.

‘The transfer of confiscated assets of sanctions violators to Ukraine is fully in line with the generally accepted principle of returning criminal assets to the needs of the victim,’ concludes Andriy Klymosiuk. ‘These funds could be quickly transferred and used to support critical infrastructure and defence without further burdening the taxpayers of partner countries.