Confiscation of assets of the aggressor state and ban on its symbols

Ukrainian farmers henceforth will be able to gain profit not only from sowing but also from surrendering captured Russian equipment. Also, Ukraine will now be able to confiscate assets of Russian businesses and those who deny Russian aggression or support the aggressor state.

Confiscation of assets of the aggressor state and its residents

Draft bill # 7169 of March 15, 2022

Cosponsors: 5 MPs with Dmytro Natalukha as the first signatory

Status: adopted as a law

Who is affected: the Russian Federation, its resident natural persons and legal entities

Summary of the bill:

• allows confiscation of assets owned by Russia or its residents as a part of future reparations that will be collected from the aggressor state

• recognizes as residents of the aggressor state the following entities:

  • natural persons — citizens of the Russian Federation

  • natural persons that are not citizens of the Russian Federation but have close ties with Russia: permanently reside, do business, or work there

  • legal entities that operate on the territory of Ukraine if one of the following conditions applies:

    • Russia is one of their founders, members, shareholders, or beneficiaries either directly or indirectly

    • the aggressor state directly or indirectly owns a share of their statutory fund or shares, is a part of these entities in any other form

    • other legal entities that have the Russian Federation as its direct or indirect founder or beneficiary own a share of their statutory fund or shares

• a natural person or legal entity can be recognized as a resident of Russia by court decisions or by decisions by the National Defense and Security Council in the following cases:

  • a person or legal entity supports the armed aggression or denies the fact of the armed aggression

  • a person or legal entity has not stopped or suspended their economic or business activities on the territory of Russian after the armed aggression against Ukraine.

What is right:

• the draft bill provides a definition of individuals and legal entities associated with Russia whose assets are liable to confiscation

• ensures that confiscation cannot be prevented using a scheme with intermediary legal structures

• allows to confiscate assets as military reparations — an important provision considering that the amount of economic losses of the state, Ukrainian citizens, and legal entities is of a colossal size

• stimulates international businesses to withdraw from the market of the aggressor state.

What is wrong: the National Security and Defense Council is an advisory presidential body and thus cannot have any independent powers.

Rewards for the voluntary surrender of Russian military equipment

Draft bill # 7229 of March 30, 2022

Cosponsors: 52 MPs from different factions and groups with Fedir Venislavskyi (Servant of the People) as the first signatory.

Who is affected: service members of the Russian armed forces and other Russian military units, service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, other military bodies of security and defense sectors, Ukrainian citizens, and the Cabinet.

Summary of the bill:

• allows the Armed Forces of Ukraine to pay rewards for surrendered military equipment of the occupants

• the reward for surrendered equipment can be paid to:

  • service members of the Russian armed forces and other Russian military units

  • service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, other military bodies of security and defense sectors

  • Ukrainian citizens.

• the rewards for surrendered equipment:

  • $1 mln for a fighter jet

  • $500 thousand for an attack helicopter

  • $100 thousand for a tank

  • $50 thousand for an infantry fighting vehicle or armored personnel carrier, etc.

• if Russian soldiers give up their equipment, Ukraine will guarantee them the following:

  • the fact of surrendering the equipment will remain confidential

  • Ukraine will issue them new certified IDs

  • Ukraine will ensure their safety on its territory

  • they will be offered an option to emigrate to other countries.

What is right:

• Russian soldiers unwilling to fight will have additional incentive to surrender. Demoralized Russian troops will be able not to just surrender, but also to get a financial reward and emigrate to other countries

• Ukrainian citizens — primarily farmers — will be motivated to transfer the military equipment they have captured to the Armed Forces of Ukraine

• The Ukrainian Army will be reinforced by equipment captured from the enemy, including expensive equipment like tanks and aircraft. According to the media, Ukraine now has more tanks than it had before the war thanks to the captured trophies.

Ban on the propaganda of the Russian totalitarian regime

Draft bill # 7214 of March 26, 2022

Cosponsors: 19 MPs with Mykola Kniazhytskyi as the first signatory

Status: adopted in the first reading

Who is affected: Ukrainian citizens, businesses, media, political parties, and the Ministry of Justice

Summary of the bill:

• provides a legal definition of a “terrorist state” as a state that officially and openly, using its troops, commits terrorist acts and international terrorist acts

• recognizes the Russian Federation as a terrorist state and Russian ideology as a neo-Nazi and totalitarian

• introduces a ban on Russian propaganda and symbols it uses in the context of the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine

• media, political parties, and legal entities spreading Russian propaganda and promoting symbols used in the context of the armed aggression against Ukraine will be not allowed to register and operate in Ukraine.

What is wrong:

• the draft bill is populist in nature and contains terms that are not regulated by law

• the draft bill does not provide a list of forbidden symbols that are used in the context of the armed aggression against Ukraine

• in times of war and military hostilities crimes committed by parties of the conflict are qualified as crimes against humanity and international law, not as terrorist acts

• the draft bill does not introduce criminal or administrative punishment for spreading Russian propaganda or promoting symbols used in the context of the armed aggression against Ukraine.

What’s next:

• the draft bill should be rejected since it does not contain penalties for violating its provisions and it is impossible to significantly amend the draft bill under the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada

• a new bill should be drafted that will expand the Law On Condemning the Communist and National Socialist (Nazi) Totalitarian Regimes and Prohibiting the Propagation of their Symbols to ban symbols used by Russian propaganda and Russia in the context of the armed aggression against Ukraine

• a criminal punishment stipulated for the promotion of totalitarian regimes should be also introduced for the promotion of the current totalitarian regime of the Russian Federation and its symbols used in the context of the armed aggression against Ukraine.