Zelenskyy's chief economic adviser said Ukraine would prosecute companies that continue to trade Russian oil and gas. These companies should be judged, he added

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said European countries that buy Russian energy are generating "money out of the blood. Image Credit: Getty

The top economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine will prosecute companies that continue to trade in Russian oil and gas.

"Our belief is that if companies commit war crimes, we will prosecute and sue all of these people," Oleg Ustenko said in an interview with The Observer, a British newspaper, published late Saturday. "Perhaps in a year, maybe in ten years, but we'll identify these guys."

Ustenko stated that the traders were aware that Ukraine was "monitoring" them. "We know the name of the ship, the flag, the captain's name, the volume of oil, how much money was paid for that oil, the port of destination, the company that supplied the insurance," he said. "We're going to use this information."

He told The Observer that Ukraine has "other things to do that are much more urgent right now," but added, "They know we're watching them and gathering this information."

According to Ustenko, Russia earns $1.4 billion a day from energy exports. He proposed a global ban on Russian energy imports in March.

Last week, Zelenskyy stated that European countries that continue to purchase Russian oil and gas are generating "money out of the blood."

Despite sweeping Western sanctions, Russia is making more money from energy exports than it was before the February 24 invasion of Ukraine. According to Bloomberg, Russia's energy exports are expected to generate $321 billion in 2022, up more than a third from 2021.

The United States has imposed a restriction on Russian energy imports. Germany's finance minister recently stated that the country, which is the world's largest importer of Russian energy, is "ready to suspend all energy imports from Russia," but that this will take time.

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