Control over dozens of Russia-controlled companies’ assets pass to Ukraine

The Ukraine Security Service has transferred about 15 billion hryvnias ($407 million) of seized assets obtained from corruption and other crimes to the management of the country’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA).

According to law enforcement agencies, the government has taken over 80 property complexes (sanatoriums, sports facilities, etc.) in various regions with an estimated cost of 7 billion hryvnias ($189.8 million), which were illegally withdrawn from state ownership and transferred to the balance of Ukrainian trade unions; assets of 19 Ukrainian companies controlled by Russian corporations Rostech, Rosneft, Gazprom, RusAl, Rosatom, HMS Group, Tatneft and Russian banks for a total amount of more than 7.75 billion hryvnias ($210 million), as well as thousands of immovable and movable property objects assigned to them worth hundreds of millions of hryvnias, RBC-Ukraine reports citing the Security Service’s press centre.

Assets with Russian beneficiaries were arrested as part of criminal proceedings on the fact of preparation, planning, and introduction of an aggressive war against Ukraine by Russia.

“As for the property that was on the balance sheet of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, according to the cyber department of the SBU, from 1992 to the present, officials of the federation have illegally alienated 80 health resorts, sports and other complexes,” the service noted.

As law enforcement officers say, this was carried out according to the scheme of underestimating the market value of objects and making the minimum official payment by the buyer without coordination with the State Property Fund.

It is indicated that such schemes caused damage to the state on an especially large scale. Thus, on the initiative of Ukraine’s Security Service, ARMA received such objects as the hotels "Tourist" and "Druzhba" in Kyiv; sanatorium "Zhovten" in Koncha-Zaspa, sanatorium "Kuyalnik" in Odesa, "Morshinsky" in the Lviv region and "Polyana" in Transcarpathia; sports complexes, in particular the building in which the Kyiv Sports Club is located.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

Earlier, a part of a shopping mall owned by Russian officials was arrested in Kyiv.

The service added that a Belarusian enterprise was exposed in the Kharkiv region and assets worth 120 million hryvnias ($3.26 million) were seized.