President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Presidential Decree No. 960/2026 on September 26, 2026, putting into force a National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) decision of September 17, 2026 that applies personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) to 44 natural persons. The decree entered into force on publication, under Article 107 of the Constitution and Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine on Sanctions (No. 1644-VII).
Ukrainian banks and payment institutions, securities firms and custodians, companies with contracts, licences or assets linked to the 44 designated persons, and state-property lessors and privatisation counterparties must immediately screen the list and block the assets of every designated person, stop trade and financial obligations, and suspend licences, privatisation and state-property dealings for the ten-year term, or the assets stay blocked and all such dealings remain prohibited for ten years with Ukrainian state awards withdrawn indefinitely under the Law of Ukraine on Sanctions.
What does Decree 960/2026 impose?
The decree enacts an NSDC decision based on proposals from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). It designates 44 natural persons who took part in illegal "elections" held on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, applying a uniform ten-year sanctions package: asset freeze, a full stop of trade, a block on capital export, suspension of economic and financial obligations, licence suspension, limits on privatisation and state-property lease, and bans on technology and intellectual-property transfer and on land acquisition. Ukrainian state awards granted to the designated persons are withdrawn indefinitely. The President's press service confirmed the sanctions target participants in the sham votes on occupied territory.
Control over implementation is assigned to the Secretary of the NSDC. The Cabinet of Ministers and the SBU, together with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and the Commission of State Awards and Heraldry, must implement and monitor the measures, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is tasked with informing the European Union, the United States and other states and raising the question of adopting analogous restrictive measures.
| Measure | Duration | What it blocks |
|---|---|---|
| Asset freeze | 10 years | Funds and economic resources of the 44 designated persons |
| Trade stop | 10 years | All trade operations with designated persons |
| Capital-export block | 10 years | Export of capital outside Ukraine |
| Suspension of financial obligations | 10 years | Economic and financial obligations to designated persons |
| Licence suspension | 10 years | Licences and permits held by designated persons |
| Privatisation and state-property limits | 10 years | Privatisation and lease of state and communal property |
| Technology and IP transfer ban | 10 years | Transfer of technologies and intellectual property rights |
| Land-acquisition ban | 10 years | Acquisition of land by designated persons |
| Withdrawal of state awards | Indefinite | Ukrainian state awards granted to designated persons |
Who must screen and block the 44 designated persons?
The measures bind the actors exposed to the designated persons through market activity, not the designated persons themselves. Ukrainian banks and payment institutions must screen counterparties and freeze accounts and transactions. Ukrainian securities firms and custodians must check clients, holdings and settlement chains. Ukrainian companies holding contracts, licences or assets linked to any of the 44 persons must stop performance and freeze the related assets. State-property lessors and privatisation counterparties must suspend lease and privatisation dealings with them.
The sanctions apply to natural persons listed in the annex to the NSDC decision. Compliance teams should screen against that official list rather than rely on secondary reporting of individual names.
What must compliance teams do immediately?
- Load the 44 names and identifiers from the official annex into screening systems.
- Screen all customers, counterparties, beneficial owners, payment chains and settlement instructions against the list.
- Block accounts, funds and economic resources of any designated person and report frozen assets to the NBU and the competent authorities.
- Suspend trade operations, financial obligations, licences, permits, privatisation and state-property lease dealings with designated persons.
- Apply the technology and IP transfer ban and the land-acquisition ban, and check contractual IP and land clauses.
- Record the ten-year duration and the indefinite award withdrawal in case files and recalibrate transaction-monitoring rules.
What happens if a firm deals with a designated person?
Under the Law of Ukraine on Sanctions, the assets of a designated person stay blocked and trade, financial obligations, licences and state-property dealings with that person are prohibited for the full ten-year term, with Ukrainian state awards withdrawn indefinitely. Breaches expose the firm to the enforcement and penalty regime of the Law on Sanctions and to supervisory action by the NBU and other competent bodies. Continuous per-jurisdiction screening surfaces a new NSDC designation the moment the decree publishes, which is how a sanctions desk keeps its lists up to date without manual chasing.
Verify whether any customer, counterparty, beneficial owner or asset in your book matches the 44-person annex, block and report matches, brief sanctions, payments, securities and state-property teams, and keep the list live in screening tools for the ten-year term.
