58 companies owned by sanctioned individuals have been transferred to state ownership in Ukraine

58 companies owned by sanctioned individuals have been transferred to state ownership since the beginning of the full-scale war. Of these, only 13 businesses were owned by Russians. The remaining 45 companies had founders with close ties to the aggressor or who supported the war in Ukraine.

We are tracking companies that had owners from the Russian Federation at the start of the full-scale war.

All these companies were transferred to state ownership in Ukraine through domestic sanctions. The process of confiscating property from sanctioned individuals is quite complex. First, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) must make a decision to apply sanctions to a specific person, which is enacted by a presidential decree. If the sanction includes asset blocking, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine then submits a claim to the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) to confiscate the assets of the sanctioned individual for the benefit of the state. In such cases, the state can seize not only the assets directly owned by the individual but also those managed through other persons.

In response to a query from Opendatabot, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Inna Bohatykh noted that the mechanism used by Ukraine for asset confiscation is unique in global practice. In such cases, it is crucial to adhere to international standards and national legal requirements to ensure that decisions are not challenged in international courts.

The process of proving the connection between a sanctioned individual and specific assets is also complex. In such cases, there are often efforts to “mask” the assets as much as possible, using increasingly creative methods to do so.

«Collecting evidence and filing lawsuits is a challenging process. The consideration of lawsuits in practice is also lengthy. For example, we currently have a case that has already had 38 court hearings. The Ministry of Justice’s claim, along with attachments, consists of 45 volumes. Meanwhile, the total number of volumes currently under review in court exceeds 150, taking into account the evidence submitted by all parties involved.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has filed 48 claims. Of these, 40 have been decided in favor of the state, with one decision not yet finalized. Another 7 cases are currently under review by the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) and the HACC Appeals Chamber. Overall, it can be said that 98% of the claims for asset seizure have been satisfied by the court», 

— commented Inna Bohatykh.

As of the day of the full-scale war, Opendatabot identified 18,940 companies in Ukrainian registers with owners from the Russian Federation.

Currently, all assets seized by the court are in the possession of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU). However, they may later be privatized or sold at open public auctions through the Prozorro.Sale system. The proceeds from their sale are intended to go to the Fund for the Liquidation of the Consequences of Armed Aggression.