Almost 50 companies on list of war sponsors - NACP Head

The head of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP), Oleksandr Novikov, said in an interview with Ukrinform.

"It is worth noting that the NACP is responsible for regulating the prevention of corruption in the private sector, i.e. for compliance issues and for checking counterparties, so this Register of International Sponsors of War is actually information to check the integrity of counterparties not only in Ukraine but also worldwide," he said.

Novikov reminded that the Register of International Sponsors of War is a joint project of the NACP and Refinitiv, which is a partner of World-Check, a database of politically exposed persons and high-risk individuals and organizations, and was created to prevent international business from being conducted on the blood of Ukrainians.

"As of today, almost 50 companies are listed in this Register. Most of them are from China - 14. The second place is taken by the United States - seven companies. All the rest are mainly from the European Union," informed the NACP Head.

According to him, there is a tendency for international companies that continue to operate in Russia to actively apply to the NACP, provide plans for the withdrawal of businesses from the aggressor country and ask not to include the company in this Register.

"Just last week, one of these companies contacted us and said it would provide a plan to leave the Russian Federation to avoid being included in the Register," said the NACP head.

According to him, such a list is aimed at preventing financing and technological strengthening of the aggressor.

Novikov emphasized that there are cases when this tool helped companies leave Russia, after which they were excluded from the Register. These include three Greek oil carriers, the British paper manufacturer Mondi, the Irish marine fuel supply company Peninsula Petroleum Limited, and the world's largest Indian diamond production and export company Shree Ramkrishna Exports (SRK), which have already been removed from the Register.

"However, unfortunately, every week we add a new multinational company to the list, which continues to operate in Russia and pays significant taxes to the Russian budget. We hope that the values of freedom and democracy will prevail and that all these companies will eventually leave the Russian market," summarized the NACP chairman.

As Ukrinform reported, the NACP added the American multinational fast food franchise Subway to the list of international sponsors of war.