Government postpones launch of oligarch register until after war
The government decided to postpone the launch of the register of oligarchs until three months after the end of martial law, according to an official document dated Sept. 19 and recently made public.
The register was planned to be launched three months after the evaluation by the Venice Commission, a body of the Council of Europe that advises Ukraine on steps toward EU integration, on Ukraine's anti-oligarch law.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree to introduce the register on June 30, 2022, in accordance with the anti-oligarch law signed in 2021.
The law sets the legal definition of an oligarch and requires officials to declare contacts with them.
It also bans oligarchs from financing political parties, political ads, or demonstrations and excludes them from the privatization of state assets.
In June 2023, the Venice Commission recommended to Ukraine to postpone the implementation of the anti-oligarch law until after the war.
The implementation of the law is one of the seven criteria set by the European Commission that Ukraine should fulfill on its path toward EU accession.
Martial law was introduced in Ukraine at the start of the full-scale Russian invasion and is being periodically prolonged every three months.
Igor Kossov
