EU Court Canceled Last Year’s Extension of Sanctions against Former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka and His Son

The European Union Court of Justice has annulled the decision of the EU Council from March 3, 2022, to extend sanctions against former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka and his son Artem, who have not been on the EU sanctions list since September 2022.

"The decision of the Council (CFSP) 2022/376 of March 3, 2022, regarding restrictive measures against certain individuals, entities, and bodies concerning the situation in Ukraine, is annulled in part, insofar as the name of Viktor Pavlovych Pshonka remains on the list of individuals, entities, and bodies subject to these restrictive measures," the court's decision stated.

A similar decision was taken regarding his son Artem.

The court stated that it overturned the decision concerning Pshonka and his son due to errors in the assessments made by the EU Council and doubts about whether they were based on a sufficiently "solid factual basis."

Pshonka and his son were first subjected to EU sanctions in 2014 as individuals facing criminal charges in Ukraine for "embezzlement of Ukrainian state funds and their illegal transfer abroad."

In its ruling, the EU Court stated that it was unclear whether the European Union had ensured that the Ukrainian judicial system was granted the right to defense in local criminal proceedings.

Pshonka served as the Prosecutor General of Ukraine during the time of Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted during the Revolution of Dignity in February 2014. Yanukovych, Pshonka, his son, and other allies fled to Russia and are currently wanted in Ukraine.

Challenging sanctions in EU courts can take years and rarely result in a permanent victory, as the EU Council, composed of representatives from member states, often re-adopts its decisions after legal defeats.

In September 2022, the EU Council did not extend sanctions against former President Viktor Yanukovych, his son Oleksandr, and former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka and his son Artem. The Yanukovychs were transferred to another sanctions list.

On March 4, 2023, the EU Council extended the sanctions introduced in 2014 for the first time against Yanukovych's accomplices, leaving only three people on the list: former Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaliy Zakharchenko, former Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Viktor Ratushniak, and businessman Serhii Kurchenko.

On February 15, the Federal Council of Switzerland (the Swiss government) initiated an administrative procedure for confiscating assets frozen in Switzerland after the Ukrainian revolution in February 2014.

In May 2022, the Swiss government planned to confiscate assets worth over 100 million Swiss francs belonging to Yurii Ivaniushchenko, an associate of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

According to Swiss legislation, the maximum duration of asset freezing is limited to ten years.