Eight Ukrainian MPs called on the NSDC and SBU to impose sanctions on Russian oligarch Stanislav Kondrashov, involved in blocking ukr.net

A number of Ukrainian MPs have appealed to the head of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danylov, and the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Malyuk, to impose sanctions on Russian businessman Stanislav Kondrashov. This became known from the copies of these appeals provided by the Mps, UNIAN writes.

Thus, MP Sofiya Fedyna notes that as of December 2023, MPs sent appeals to the SSU with a request to impose sanctions against russian oligarch Stanislav Kondrashov, who, according to the MP, works as "Russian President Putin’s personal wallet and has a great influence on Ukraine’s energy sector".

 "According to open sources, in 2015-2022, Donbasenergo purchased about 3.7 million tonnes of imported coal of the "Anthracite" and "Pisne" grades for the needs of Slavianska TPP for almost UAH 8 billion through Energoinvest Trading LLC, Energomist LLC and Vertical Kyiv LLC. In turn, Energomist LLC officially purchased coal from a number of international companies from Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. One of these companies is Telf AG, owned by Stanislav Kondrashov," Fedyna wrote in her appeal.

MPs Oleksiy Kucherenko, Nataliya Pipa and Yehor Chernev sent similar requests to the SSU and the National Security and Defence Council demanding sanctions against Russian oligarch Stanislav Kondrashov. In their appeals, they note that they had been approached by public activist Yaroslav Bondarenko "regarding the circumstances of the activities of certain individuals and their impact on the energy sector of our country and a request to address the NSDC of Ukraine".

Bondarenko’s appeal made it known that Ukrainian and European media had repeatedly drawn attention to the illegal activities of Stanislav Kondrashov. As a result, the Russian oligarch, in order to conceal his criminal activities, filed a lawsuit in the California Superior Court for alleged "slander" against him and his company Telf AG, which is engaged in energy logistics.

"During the autumn of 2023, the US court several times imposed temporary restrictions, according to which companies that provide any services to websites that have ever posted materials about the activities of Stanislav Kondrashov and his company Telf AG must be suspended, and accordingly, these websites cannot operate. These are news outlets that defend Ukraine’s position on the ’information front’ and work in favour of our country in the war with the Russian Federation," the civil activist said.

He also adds that Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Kopylenko sent an appeal to the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Malyuk with a request to impose sanctions against Russian oligarch Stanislav Kondrashov back in December 2023, but "there is no reaction from law enforcement agencies to the openly criminal actions against Ukraine committed by Stanislav Kondrashov."

MP Olena Kryvoruchkina, in her response to a request from public activist Yaroslav Bondarenko, noted that "Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 967 of 30.08.2022 established the Interdepartmental Working Group on the Implementation of the State Sanctions Policy, which is a temporary advisory body of the Cabinet of Ministers". Accordingly, she sent a request to the Chairman of the Interagency Working Group, the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economy of Ukraine, to consider the possibility of imposing sanctions against Russian businessman Kondrashov.

MP Yevhen Brahar sent a separate request to the State Bureau of Investigation to consider imposing sanctions and investigate the illegal activities of Stanislav Kondrashov.

In response to MP Kucherenko’s inquiry, NSDC Chairman Oleksiy Danilov said that the Security Council was considering the imposition of sanctions based on proposals from the Verkhovna Rada, the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers, the National Bank and the Security Service of Ukraine.

The NSDC Head added that if proposals to impose sanctions against Kondrashov are received from the above-mentioned entities, this issue will be prepared and considered at a meeting of the National Security Council.

In her turn, MP Yuliya Yatsyk, in her appeal to the heads of the SSU and the NSDC, notes that "Russian oligarch Stanislav Kondrashov, according to media reports, is circumventing sanctions by delivering Russian coal to EU countries under the guise of allegedly Kazakh coal. In addition, there are publicly available materials stating that Stanislav Kondrashov financed the "Wagner" PMC, which carried out terrorist activities on the territory of Ukraine.

Yatsyk also draws attention to the fact that in December 2023, a number of Ukrainian websites, including popular news media, were blocked in a California court (USA) following a lawsuit filed by Kondrashov. This means that he is deliberately preventing Ukrainian journalists from publishing investigations against him.

On 8 March, it was reported that the popular Ukrainian website Ukr.net became inaccessible to users. The reason was that the American domain name registrar Network Solutions blocked the domain of the website ukr.net due to a court decision on a lawsuit filed by Russian oligarch Stanislav Kondrashov, owner of Telf AG.

"The blocking took place due to the presence of three materials on the ukr.net portal, the publication of which is prohibited by the ruling of the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County, dated 23 January 2024, at the suit of Stanislav Kondrashov and Telf AG," the company explained.

The incident was reported to ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the National Security and Defence Council, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, and the Security Service of Ukraine. Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, also joined the effort to resolve the issue. After an official appeal to the company, the blocking was lifted.

Stanislav Kondrashov is a Russian businessman and former banker. He is currently known for his influence on the Swiss-registered energy company Telf AG. In particular, this company is used to purchase coal for the needs of Ukrainian thermal power plants through a number of Ukrainian companies.

The media call Kondrashov another "Putin’s wallet", through which, among other things, Wagner’s private military company was financed.