Canada imposes sanctions against nine people from Moldova linked to fugitive oligarchs
- Author:
- Anhelina Sheremet
- Date:
Canada has imposed sanctions against nine people from Moldova who are linked to fugitive oligarchs Vlad Plahotniuk and Ilan Shor. There are following people in the list:
- the head of the Party of Regions of Moldova Oleksandr Kalinin;
- criminal authority Grigoriy Karamalak;
- representatives of the non-constitutional party "Shor" Valery Klymenko, Maria Albot, Serhiy Burguji and Igor Khimich;
- the head of Telesistem TV SRL (which owns Primul in Moldova and Accent TV channels) Arina Korshikova;
- Vera Plahotniuc;
- Tatyana Platon.
They will not be able to conduct financial transactions in Canada, their assets will be frozen. Canadians were also prohibited from providing financial services to these individuals.
They are accused of supporting Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine, "this will not go unpunished." In this way, Canada confirms its support for Moldova and Ukraine, "which are defending their independence, rights and freedom from the aggressive actions of the Kremlin."
Canada also imposed sanctions against six Moldovan TV channels, which were temporarily deprived of their licenses: TV6, Orhei TV, Primul in Moldova, Accent TV, NTV Moldova and RTR Moldova. These channels "actively promote and spread Russian disinformation to justify Russiaʼs aggressive war against Ukraine."
- Ilan Shor is a Moldavian pro-Russian politician, businessman, married to the Russian singer Jasmin. Now Shor is hiding abroad, because in Moldova he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the case of the stolen billion dollars.
- Vlad Plahotniuc is the richest man in Moldova, his Democratic Party has been in power since 2014, but later discredited itself due to corruption and scandals. In the last parliamentary elections in 2021, she was unable to enter the parliament. In June 2019, when the Democratic Party government resigned, Plahotniuc fled the country. In the US, Plahotniuc is accused of corruption and management of the countryʼs judicial and law enforcement system during the time when the Democratic Party was in power.