Sanctions in Ukraine are used for political purposes, - expert

The sanctions imposed by Ukraine and its allies against Russia are increasingly losing credibility due to their low effectiveness. But this ineffectiveness is not accidental, as the main purpose of sanctions is political, and the economic effect is always secondary.

Serhiy Liamets, former editor of Ekonomichna Pravda, writes about this, Ukrainian News reports.

"Sanctions are mostly an information weapon. They are used for political purposes to influence the minds and hearts of voters. In particular, in times of war, they play the role of a propaganda and counter-propaganda tool. If solving the problem, inflicting a real blow, immobilising the aggressor is only the second priority, then achieving this goal is secondary," he said.

In his opinion, the reason for the economic ineffectiveness of sanctions is that they actually achieve exactly the goal that their creators intended. The effect is sufficient, and many "consumers of sanctions services" get emotional relief, but are not interested in the deeper issues. The US and EU do the same. That is why Russia has de facto withstood the pressure by selling its energy resources and buying weapons components through third countries.

In Ukraine, sanctions have been applied on a massive scale since 2014, but the revenue generated by them for the state budget remains negligible. According to the Accounting Chamber, a significant portion of confiscated assets have not been transferred into management, resulting in the loss of billions.

According to the Ministry of Justice, to which the expert refers, the following assets were confiscated in favour of Ukraine:

- 305 real estate objects;

- 119 corporate rights/stakes in enterprises;

- rights to trademarks and industrial designs, property rights to music, graphic images, and TV programme scripts;

- 2,871 items of movable property;

- over 165,000 tonnes of iron ore products;

- 62,595.183 tonnes of potash (mineral fertilisers);

- 552,037.513 tonnes of bauxite;

- claims under contracts worth UAH 10 billion;

- UAH 3 billion in cash and government bonds.

In contrast, according to the Ministry of Finance, the state budget received only

- UAH 114 million in 2023;

- UAH 830 million in 2024;

- UAH 5.8 billion in 2025 (as of 8 August).

"State revenues from confiscation are catastrophically low. The lion's share of these funds came from the privatisation of Aeroc and the management of Ocean Plaza," writes Serhiy Liamets.

According to the author, Ukraine will face more and more problems in the future. The hasty imposition of sanctions for political purposes resulted in confiscation under legally flawed procedures. This has created the risk of international lawsuits.

"For many years in a row, Ukraine has been institutionally preparing to join the EU. As part of this preparation, Ukraine has signed dozens of international agreements. Among them is the obligation to recognise the decisions of international courts and tribunals. By imposing sanctions on an ever-increasing scale, especially against Ukrainian citizens, NSDC officials recklessly ignored this fact. I may be wrong, but it seems that over the past three years, Ukraine has issued future lawsuits against itself worth billions of dollars."

To request a correction, please send an email.