On Wednesday 27 February, the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) decided to extend sanctions against 12 people, including former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who is accused of misappropriation of Ukrainian state funds and their illegal transfer from the Ukraine.
On the other hand, they removed Andriy Klyuyev, the former head of the administration of the former Ukrainian president from the list of individuals subject to sanctions, due to a "lack of solidity of the legal basis".
In July 2018, the EU General Court lifted the freezing of Mr Klyuyev's assets for the period March 2017-March 2018 (see EUROPE 12060). However, in November, the President of the General Court refused to suspend the sanctions against him. He had considered that, although the request was justified on its face, in the matter of the July decision, Mr Klyuyev had not succeeded in establishing the urgency for the need to suspend the sanctions (see EUROPE 12149).
The 12-month extension could be formally adopted, without debate, at the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council on Monday 4 March.
These sanctions, which run until 6 March 2019, were initially adopted on 5 March and 15 April 2014, and originally concerned 22 individuals (see EUROPE 11033). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)