A court has dismissed an appeal against the special confiscation of $1.5-billion assets of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his allies, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office said on Facebook on Thursday.

"The Appeals Court of Donetsk Region has declined to open a proceeding on the impoundment of $1.5 billion at the request of lawyers representing non-resident entities of Yanukovych's criminal enterprise," the office said.

It said it had not received a copy of the court ruling so far.

The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) said on April 28 that Oschadbank (the State Savings Bank of Ukraine) started to impound $1.5 billion belonging to former Ukrainian President Yanukovych and his associates. The impoundment order had been issued by the Kramatorsk court in Donetsk region, and the appeal window already closed by then.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said later on that day that the Kramatorsk court had decided to impound money of Yanukovych and his associates on the basis of testimony provided by one associate, who received a suspended sentence in exchange.

"The Prosecutor General's Office in Ukraine has long been investigating this case under Article 255 (creation of a criminal group), in which suspects are citizens Yanukovych, [Ukrainian businessman Serhiy] Kurchenko, [former minister of taxes and income Oleksandr] Klymenko, [former First Vice Prime Minister Serhiy] Arbuzov, as well as a number of other influential personalities of that time ... While investigating the case [embezzlement of budget funds] [the investigators have] identified a member of the gang who has given full incriminating testimony against the high-ranking officials, [elaborating on] the methods and ways of the crime, naming exact companies and bank accounts in the world, as well as their further use in Ukraine This was taken into account by the court of Kramatorsk," Lutsenko said.

According to Lutsenko, the identified member was given a suspended sentence. He and the judge of the case are "under protection," he added.

The prosecutor general said Oschadbank completed the impoundment of $1.5 billion the same day.

Lutsenko informed about the secrecy of the trial and the ruling by the Kramatorsk court in the Yanukovych special confiscation case "in order to ensure the safety of the key witness, or rather, the person who has signed the agreement." "There are still people who will follow the same path [signing an agreement with the investigation] regarding other assets," he added.