By KYIV. Dec 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Interdepartmental Working Group (IWG) on the implementation of the state sanctions policy recommended submitting to the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) a package of proposals to impose sanctions against about 1,600 individuals – propagandists, pop artists, cultural figures and athletes.
"The package recommended by the IWG for submission to the NSDC includes about 2,000 individuals and legal entities… The rest (besides 1,600) are legal entities, such as TV and radio companies, publishing houses, etc. Museums, galleries, publishing houses from the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea are also on the list," the Ministry of Economy said on Friday.
First Deputy Prime Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko, at a briefing on that day, noted the importance of coordinating sanctions with allied countries, which increases their effectiveness.
"In total, about 6,000 people are currently being processed," Svyrydenko said.
Speaking about actors, artists, journalists, athletes and bloggers, to whom it is proposed to apply sanctions, she stressed that these are people who should be moral authorities and prevent an aggressive war.
"They preferred serving the ideals of humanity to serving the terrorist regime. Their crime is no less than the crimes of those who are killing peaceful Ukrainians today. The propaganda of war must be punished, and I am convinced that the time will come when these people will be brought to justice. We assess their actions by imposing sanctions," the First Deputy Prime Minister said.
The IWG also worked out mechanisms to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the relevant authorities of Ukraine’s partner countries on issues of sanctions policy including mechanisms that contribute to the mirroring of sanctions.
The Ministry of Economy reminded that this is not the first package of sanctions, which included propagandists. On October 19, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky put into effect the decision of the NSDC to impose sanctions on more than 3,800 people from Russia and Belarus, and this package already included some propagandists, in particular Olga Skabeeva, Zakhar Prilepin, Ivan Okhlobystin and others.
