Investigators of the Chief Investigation Department of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine have arrested UAH 2.6 billion held in accounts belonging to individuals and companies at public joint-stock company National Bank for Development (VBR), which belongs to the son of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, Oleksandr Yanukovych, as part of a criminal investigation into officials of the bank, Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov has said.

"The Chief Investigation Department of the Interior Ministry is investigating a criminal case against officials of PJSC VBR that belongs to Oleksandr Yanukovych, under Part 2 of Article 364, and Part 2 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine… Investigators carried out a search at VBR and arrested individuals and companies' deposit accounts with over UAH 2.6 billion in them [including UAH 12 million which personally belongs to Oleksandr Yanukovych]," Avakov wrote on his Facebook page last week.

He said that during the pretrial investigation, it was established that VBR officials in 2012-2014 illegally issued loans to state enterprises which had their credit rates set too high. Also, money was laundered via the deposit accounts of the bank's owner - Oleksandr Yanukovych, and affiliated persons – VRB employees and other companies.

Avakov said that according to information available to the investigators, there are plans planned to launch liquidation procedure against PJSC VBR in November 2015, and as a result deposit funds could have been returned to Oleksandr Yanukovych and other individuals and companies.

"A court is to decide if there is a legal possibility of seizing the assets in favor of Ukraine. I make this fact public to allow the tool of public attention to work, to ensure that any court or other agency has no temptation," he added.