AKIPRESS.COM - On March 6, the European Union froze the assets of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and 16 other senior Ukrainian officials suspected of misusing state funds and violating human rights, Reuters reported.

The EU said that “all funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled” by the people listed was now frozen within the 28-nation union.

The announcement follows a decision taken last month by EU foreign ministers in response to the collapse of the Ukrainian Government and Yanukovych's flight into exile following a crackdown on protesters in Kiev in which scores killed.

Ukraine's new Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatseniuk, has said Yanukovych embezzled $37 billion during three years in office.

Among the other prominent names on the sanctions list are Viktor Pshonka, Ukraine's former Prosecutor General; Oleksandr Yakymenko, former head of the security service; and Olena Lukash, the former Minister of Justice.

Yatseniuk was due to meet EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the next steps to help Ukraine and its struggling economy get back on its feet.