The President enacts the NSDC decision to synchronize Ukrainian sanctions with international ones:
- The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine are instructed to fully implement in Ukraine the sanctions approved by international partners (it is not clear who and how will determine the partners, probably the G7)
- Further partner sanctions must be submitted to the NSDC for approval within 15 days after the partner’s sanctions come into force.
- The Cabiner of Ministers of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Prosecutor`s General Office shall synchronise Ukrainian sanctions with the EU, the US and other states.
Commented Denys Shkarovsky, Partner at VB Partners:
It looks like another ‘for all the good against all the bad’. Obviously, this is an attempt to legalize Ukrainian sanctions in the EU and the US on the principle of reciprocity. I think that it is unlikely that ‘international partners’ will apply sanctions as carelessly as our country.
This is an important step in terms of holding accountable for sanctions violations.
Potentially, the NSDC Decision and the Presidential Decree will serve as a bridge to the extraterritoriality of sanctions.
In the case of international investigations of sanctions circumvention and violation, the state authorities of all parties will try to justify that the sanctions mirror the violation, e.g., in the EU, they should be investigated in Ukraine and vice versa.
As a general rule, international assistance in criminal proceedings cannot be provided if the act does not constitute an offence in the country where the assistance is requested.
For example, a search warrant in a defamation case cannot be executed in Ukraine, as we do not have such an offence.
