Ukraine slams sanctions on Chinese Motor Sich investors
Ukraine has imposed three-year sanctions against the Chinese company Skyrizon, which, together with Ukrainian businessman Alexander Yaroslavsky, is trying to buy the Ukrainian company Motor Sich, one of the largest engine manufacturers for airplanes and helicopters worldwide.
According to a resolution of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, sanctions were imposed on Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited (British Virgin Islands), Hong Kong Skyrizon Holdings Limited (Hong Kong), Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment Co., Ltd (China), Beijing Xinwei Technology Group Co., Ltd (China), and Chinese tycoon Wang Jing.
Restrictions imposed by this resolution include asset freezes, restrictions on trading operations, a ban on the transit of resources and flights, a ban on funds withdrawals from Ukraine, a ban on transactions with securities of these companies, a ban on increasing the share capital of the companies they own in Ukraine, cancellation of visas and cancellation of visits.
In 2016, the owner of Motor Sich, Vyacheslav Boguslaev, sold the company to Chinese investors, but the Ukrainian government blocked the acquisition.
In July 2017, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) opened criminal investigation into subversive activity, and on April 2018 the company shares were seized at the request of the SBU investigator in order to preserve the physical evidence.
At the end of 2020, Yaroslavsky warned that his Chinese partners intend to sue Ukrainian government for 3.5 billion dollars in damages.
In January 2021, the U.S. blacklisted the Chinese company Skyrizon, which was trying to acquire Motor Sich.
On August 27, 2020 at the press conference in Kyiv, former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said that he would try to convince the Ukrainian government of the danger of cooperation with China. The Chinese embassy then called Bolton's words "unfriendly."