President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree enacting the decision of the National Security and Defense Council to amend sectoral sanctions applied to financial institutions of the russian federation. These restrictions were introduced in February 2023 by a decision of the NSDC, which was approved by a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, reports UNN citing the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Details
The OP noted that in February 2023, sanctions were imposed for 50 years on all banks, non-bank credit organizations, payment system operators, stock market participants, insurance companies, and investment funds registered or located in Russia.
The National Bank of Ukraine has prepared new proposals for this decision. They are aimed at preventing Russia from using modern financial instruments to circumvent sanctions, including cryptocurrency.
From now on, sanctions also apply to operators of platforms for the circulation of digital financial assets, cryptocurrency services, financial platforms, and clearing organizations. Operations with virtual assets and the use of platforms, services, or products that enable transactions with financial and virtual assets will be prohibited
Certain provisions of this decision correspond to approaches introduced in the 19th and 20th packages of European Union sanctions against Russia. At the same time, Ukraine applied a broader approach and, in particular, imposed sanctions on all virtual assets backed by the Russian ruble. This is intended to complicate the use of cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions.
Sanctions cannot remain static while Russia constantly changes mechanisms to circumvent them. Updating sectoral sanctions means that not only what Russia used yesterday falls under restrictions, but also the financial infrastructure it is creating to circumvent sanctions tomorrow