The oligarchs, who can officially obtain such a status after the law on de-oligarchization came into force on May 7, 2022, had enough time to avoid this, but did not make relevant real attempts, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska has said.

"I did not notice that the oligarchs really, honestly, from the first day this law came into force, took up the structuring of their business and avoiding the signs of an oligarch, as provided for by the law," he told Interfax-Ukraine in an exclusive interview.

The minister said the oligarchs had at least half a year since the adoption of the law, but in reality more, since the essence of the law and the understanding that it would be voted on were much earlier.

"These six months was the time that we calculated as sufficient to get rid of the status of an oligarch, if we really set ourselves such a goal... To say that now this time is not enough..., it was necessary to start earlier", Maliuska said.

In his opinion, the goal of trying to bargain and say that this period is too short is not to bring your business into normal civilized practices, but to drag out time.

Commenting on the AMCU's too broad list of more than 350 pages, in which a large number of companies have monopoly status as local suppliers of heat and water, and not in their core business, Justice Minister of admitted that this could be a problem for the oligarchs.

He said the norm on accounting for regional monopolists as an oligarch appeared from the deputies when the bill was finalized in the Verkhovna Rada.

"Indeed, at first we counted on large and significant monopolists that affect the entire country. Nevertheless, the deputies suggested this, we looked at it and agreed, as a monopolist, for example, in heating, even if it is a small town, still has a decisive influence on the lives of citizens," Maliuska said.

The head of the Justice Ministry believes that if we are talking about small monopolies in very small markets, then it is not a problem for a candidate for oligarchs to get rid of such a monopoly and distribute the business.

"If it is a large monopoly, then it is much more difficult to get rid of it. Therefore, yes, indeed, it may be a smaller fish than originally planned, but it is very easy to deviate from this criterion if we are talking about a small object," the minister said.