US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the transfer of the confiscated assets of a Russian businessman to the needs of Ukraine, CNN reports.
“Today I announce that I have authorized the first-ever transfer of confiscated Russian assets for the needs of Ukraine,” he said after meeting with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.
We are talking about the assets of businessman Konstantin Malofeev, the founder of the Tsargrad TV channel (which is under US and EU sanctions), Garland specified. “The withdrawn funds will be transferred to the State Department to support the people of Ukraine,” he added.
Kostin specified that $5.4 million would be allocated for the restoration of the country. He thanked the United States for its support. “The Ukrainian people will never forget this,” said the Prosecutor General.
Malofeev in 2014 came under Western sanctions. Ukraine, the EU, the US and Canada considered that the fund he headed supported the militias of the republics of Donbass. In 2015, Malofeev founded the conservative Tsargrad TV channel.
Last spring, the US Attorney General accused Malofeev of trying to circumvent sanctions. According to Garland, the businessman managed to create a scheme that allowed publications controlled by him to operate in Europe. In addition, according to the American authorities, he financed the Russians who sought the separation of Crimea from Ukraine.
On February 2, Reuters reported that the court allowed the authorities to seize nearly $5.4 million belonging to the Tsargrad founder from his Sunflower Bank account.
