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31Jan16

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Arrested assets of Ukraine's ex-president to be used to modernize army - Ukrainian PM

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A sum of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars of arrested financial assets of Ukraine's former President Viktor Yanukovich and his team will be used to finance the army, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on Sunday.

"I hope the law enforcement system and the judicial authorities will do their best to have the money stolen from the Ukrainian people be returned to the budget. This source will be used to modernize the army and raise social standards," he said in traditional weekly televised interview. He said he meant a sum of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars "in the assets of the former [Yanukovich] regime which are under arrest but there is neither a court ruling nor forfeiture to the budget as of yet."

In 2014, Ukraine's state financial monitoring authority ruled to arrest 1.5 billion U.S. dollars allegedly owned by Yanukovich, his family and his closest mates. The money however has not yet been forfeited since there is no relevant court ruling. "It is impossible to return the criminally-earned assets as long as there is no court ruling," Vitaly Kasko, a deputy prosecutor general, said back then.

In September 2015, Ukraine's government took a decision to change the legislation to forfeit properties owned by Yanukovich and other former government members, including Nikolai Azarov, Sergei Arbuzov,Vitaly Zakharchenko, and Alexander Klimenko.

[Source: Itar Tass, Kiev, 31Jan16]

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This document has been published on 01Feb16 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.