Former Ukrainian president: Zelenskyy didn't have right to sanction me
Businessman Ihor Kolomoiskyi and Viktor Medvedchuk, a former MP from the banned pro-Russian Opposition Platform – For Life party, were legally placed under the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) sanctions, as they are no longer Ukrainian citizens, claims Petro Poroshenko, the fifth President of Ukraine and MP of the European Solidarity party. Meanwhile, he considers his inclusion in the sanctions list unfounded.
Source: Poroshenko in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda (English translation coming soon)
Quote: "Legally, Mr Kolomoiskyi is now a foreigner, so there are no restrictions on imposing sanctions against him. It's the same with Medvedchuk. And it is completely legal for Zelenskyy to sanction him for the third time.
But with Poroshenko you don't have that right, because Poroshenko is in Ukraine and never leaves. Petro Poroshenko is a Ukrainian citizen and has never held any other citizenship."
Background:
On 13 February, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved a decision made by Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council on 12 February to impose sanctions against businessman Ihor Kolomoiskyi; billionaire Kostiantyn Zhevago; Hennadii Boholiubov, former co-owner of PrivatBank; Petro Poroshenko, the fifth president of Ukraine and a European Solidarity party MP; and Viktor Medvedchuk, a former MP from the banned pro-Russian Opposition Platform – For Life party, who is also accused of treason.
Zelenskyy later said that these sanctions were aimed at people who had been "laundering" money and "withdrawing billions of hryvnias" during the war since 2014. He also added that if the funds were returned to the Ukrainian budget, the sanctions would be lifted.
Petro Poroshenko's lawyers plan to appeal the decision to impose sanctions against him in court.
On 10 January 2023, Zelenskyy revoked Viktor Medvedchuk's citizenship. However, the NSDC decision states that Medvedchuk remains a Ukrainian citizen. It is known that Medvedchuk has contested Zelenskyy's decision to revoke his citizenship.
According to media reports, Kolomoiskyi's Ukrainian citizenship was revoked in July 2022. In 2014, he admitted to having passports from Israel and Cyprus.
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