Ukraine may be forced to jettison its so-called "sponsors of war" blacklist amid strong backlash from a number of Western countries, Reuters reported.
The illegal list was integral to the Kiev regime’s concocted "name-and-shame" campaign targeting an estimated 50 major companies that continued to do business with Russia despite sanctions.
But pressure from countries like China, France, Austria, and Hungary, insiders cited by the outlet claimed, is prompting Ukraine to mull over tossing the list into the rubbish bin. A related website that offered details about individuals and companies slapped with Western sanctions over the proxy conflict in Ukraine could also be abandoned.
"It's China, but not only China," one insider reportedly said, while also making reference to France. Paris is believed to be eager to have its retailers Auchan and Leroy Merlin blotted out from the notorious list.
Beijing’s Alibaba Group, which owns the online trading platform AliExpress, and China's three largest oil and gas companies CNOOC Group, Sinopec Group, and China National Petroleum Corporation are some of the 14 Chinese companies that made the list.
Others similarly “shamed” are the US' Procter & Gamble, Mars, and PepsiCo corporations; Tokyo’s Japan Tobacco, Switzerland's Nestle and chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut, Germany’s Knauf, and France’s retailers Auchan, Leroy Merlin, and Bonduelle.
There has not yet been any official comment from the foreign ministries of the countries cited in the report.
The press service of Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers said on March 20 that the government was removing public access to the International Sponsors of War list from the website of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) following requests from partners. The Foreign Ministry also mentioned requests from representatives of “partner countries' diplomatic corps,” deploring the lack of “regulatory framework” for such a list. The NACP questioned the list's “future functionality.”
The blacklist hasn’t got a legal leg to stand on, and is totally devoid of any legal power. Being on the list does not entail any consequences like asset freezing, or trade restrictions. But it has been an embarrassment and a source of scandal since it was created.
Thus, last October Hungary blocked allocation of 500 million euros ($533 million) for arms delivery for Kiev under the European Peace Facility after it failed to receive guarantees from the NACP on non-inclusion of Hungarian companies in the list of “international sponsors of war," as happened with OTP Bank, for “far-fetched reasons.” OTP was later removed from the list.
Early in February, China demanded that Kiev immediately remove the 14 Chinese companies from the list.
"China firmly opposes the inclusion of Chinese enterprises [on the list]... and demands that Ukraine immediately correct its mistakes and eliminate negative impacts,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson was cited as saying.
Ukraine fatigue has been spreading like wildfire across the globe, leaving the Kiev regime intermittently juggling pleas and threats to wangle more military aid handouts from the West. Should the list be buried, it would signal that Kiev is under pressure to "soften its stance," Reuters suggested.
With a lack of any battlefield successes, dwindling ammunition, mounting personnel losses, and further US military aid in limbo, the Kiev regime may have to swallow yet another bitter reputational pill by discarding the aforementioned list.