Canada on Friday announced new sanctions targeting 35 Russian energy sector figures and six companies, as well as the issuance of bonds to support Ukraine.
• Read also: Electricity: “unprecedented” restrictions planned in the Kyiv region
• Read also: Russia’s use of Iranian drones is “appalling”, says Blinken
The sanctions target oil and gas giant Lukoil, senior officials of Gazprom and its subsidiaries, as well as Russia’s energy and industry ministers, deputy prime minister Alexander Novak and former prime minister Victor Zubkov.
Former National Hockey League player Alexander Frolov and chess grandmaster Anton Demchenko are also on this list, which now includes more than 1,400 people and entities accused of complicity in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. .
As for the funds raised through the issuance of Ukrainian five-year bonds, they are intended to help kyiv pay pensions and “keep the lights on”, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during of a press conference.
“The bonds are a way for Canadians to contribute directly to the fight against Russia, to support the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government,” he said.
The government declined to say how much it hopes to raise through the issuance of the bonds, which are also open to foreign buyers.
He said, however, that the funds will be channeled to an International Monetary Fund account set up in April for donations and loans to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), a community group representing the diaspora, hailed the decision of Justin Trudeau’s government to offer “an innovative investment in a peaceful, democratic and just future, not only for Ukraine, but for all Europe”.
“The UCC calls on all states that believe in freedom to follow Canada’s lead,” the group added in a statement.
In Canada, the Ukrainian diaspora numbers more than 1.36 million people, making it one of the largest in the world, according to the 2016 census.
