President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called building a state for all residents of the country, and not just for the oligarchs, as his priority. He made such a statement at a press conference dedicated to his second year in power, RBC correspondent reports.

“Number one – we are building a country without oligarchs. We will talk about this in more detail, I am ready to talk about everything. But really, a country without oligarchs. I think you already feel our first steps, for which I have been preparing for a long time. You are already seeing the results. A country for 40 million, not hundreds of Forbes, ”Zelensky promised, listing his main tasks as head of the country.

In the future, he stressed that Kiev is ready to continue the policy of imposing sanctions against oligarchs inside the country. “We are building a country that is not only waiting for the sanctions policy of other countries, but which itself defends its sovereignty and itself pursues a sanctions policy against propagandists, smugglers, and criminal bosses,” he said.

In this regard, the President of Ukraine announced the introduction of a “register of oligarchs”. The criteria for recognizing a person as an oligarch will be spelled out in a special law, which is “almost 100% ready” and may be published next week. There are three main points: “influence on the media in one form or another”, “participation in the political life of the country, influence on deputies and officials, ministers” and “the amount of assets.”

“The main content and philosophy: we do not want to kill big business. But we are definitely killing the concepts of “content” and “influence” of the oligarchic system in our country. There will be no influence on the mass media, there will be no influence on politics, there will be no influence on officials. But if it does, then these people will receive a ticket called “oligarch” – they will appear in a special register, ”Zelensky said. Those who are included in such a register “may lose a large part of the assets that are located abroad.”

Zelensky spoke about the development of a law on oligarchs in mid-April. “The influence of the oligarchs on Ukraine – on the elections, on the economy, on laws, on the Verkhovna Rada – this can no longer be allowed,” he said. In May, as an example of the fight against oligarchs in Ukraine, Zelensky cited the situation around the entrepreneur and godfather of Vladimir Putin, Viktor Medvedchuk, against whom sanctions were imposed in Ukraine and a corner persecution began. “For the first time in many years, the number of oligarchs has not increased, but decreased. Minus Medvedchuk, ”he commented on the businessman's case.