The European Commission made a proposal on Friday to bring restrictive measures taken against those who violate the sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia in response to the war unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine into line with EU law. This, in particular, implies the possibility of criminal prosecution and punishment of up to five years in prison.

"The implementation of EU restrictive measures following the Russian attack on Ukraine shows the complexity of identifying assets owned by oligarchs, who hide them across different jurisdictions through elaborate legal and financial structures. The proposed Directive will establish the same level of penalties in all Member States," the press release published on the European Commission's website says.

"Thereby it will close existing legal loopholes and increase the deterrent effect of violating EU sanctions in the first place," the European Commission said.

"Depending on the offence, the individual person could be liable to a maximum penalty of at least five years in prison; companies could be liable to penalties of no less than 5% of the total worldwide turnover of the legal person (company) in the business year preceding the fining decision," the European Commission said in the document.

It is proposed to include in the list of violations related to the violation of the EU sanctions regime and subject to criminal prosecution, in particular: making funds or economic resources available to, or for the benefit of, a designated person, entity or body; enabling the entry of designated people into the territory of a Member State or their transit through the territory of a Member State; entering into transactions with third countries, which are prohibited or restricted by EU restrictive measures; trading in goods or services whose import, export, sale, purchase, transfer, transit or transport is prohibited or restricted; providing financial activities which are prohibited or restricted; or providing other services which are prohibited or restricted, such as legal advisory services, trust services and tax consulting services.

"The proposal will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council as part of the ordinary co-legislative procedure," the European Commission said.