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News / 12 maart 2014

Frozen Ukrainian millions in the Netherlands

Hundreds of millions of euros from Ukraine found their way in recent years through Dutch letterbox companies, many of them registered at the Amsterdam Zuidas. The purpose: invisible and beneficial laundering of funds that lined the pockets of a handful of oligarchs in Ukraine by means of corruption and illegal practices - including the son of President Yanukovych. Fortunately, the Dutch government has now put a stop to this practice. Last week, Parliament decided to investigate suspicious Ukrainian assets and freeze them: a small triumph for Both ENDS and their partners!

Illegal coal mines

The parliamentary motion, which was submitted by Bram van Ojik and Jesse Klaver of the Green Left party and Pieter Omtzigt of the christian-democratic CDA, was in fact partly based on information from Both ENDS. Huub Scheele has worked with many local organizations in the Eastern Europe, fighting against corruption, questionable investments, environmental crimes and human rights violations. NECU (National Ecological Centre of Ukraine), one of the Ukrainian organizations that work with Both ENDS, published a staggering report in January this year. The report describes how earnings from illegal coal mines are laundered administratively in the country and how these revenues disappear to shady accounts of powerful Ukrainian oligarchs through a mailbox company in The Hague.

 

Efforts rewarded

"NECU asked us to deliver this story to the Dutch media," Huub says. Our partners were heavily involved in the protests in Ukraine but they want to make clear that it’s about making a clear cut choice between the EU and Russia, but that the real cause of the crisis in the country is the underlying corruption in the Ukrainian system. The Volkskrant published a piece about the issue on February 14 and the Groene Amsterdammer followed on March 4. The events in Ukraine eventually unfolded much faster than expected, but this corruption scandal vividly illustrates the deeper problems in the country. And behold: our efforts to get the issue on the agenda have not been in vain!"

 

More information:

 

24 January 2014: Yanukovich regime earns billions on illegal coal mining

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