KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine's security service said on Thursday it had seized more than 3.5 billion hryvnia ($96 million) worth of assets belonging to exiled billionaire Vadym Novynskyi, but a representative for Novynskyi said he was no longer their owner.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has accused Novynskyi of "aiding" Russia, which invaded Ukraine last year. The representative, who did not want to be named, on Friday said the billionaire denies the charge.
Novynskyi, whose wealth is estimated by Forbes at $1.4 billion, is one of the country's richest men, an ex-lawmaker and a sponsor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). His representative said he was currently in Switzerland.
The SBU said it had seized assets including ownership deeds to 40 Ukrainian enterprises and 30 natural gas wells.
"The property of pro-Russian oligarch Vadym Novynskyi, who is involved in aiding the aggressor country, was seized," the SBU said in a statement.
Novynskyi's representative said Novynskyi was a "patriot" who supported the Ukrainian government.
The seizure comes amid an escalating dispute between the government and the UOC, which Kyiv accuses of retaining long-standing religious ties with Moscow despite formally cutting them in May 2022.
Some senior clergy have been accused of treason and collaboration with Moscow. The church denies wrongdoing or that it has relations with Russia.
Novynskyi was sanctioned by Ukraine in December along with several of the UOC's bishops, shortly after a wave of searches on church properties.
Chief Executive Officer Julia Kiryanova of Smart Holding, one of the entities which has had some of its assets seized, told Reuters on Friday that the company was transferred on Dec. 1 from Novynskyi to a trust owned by citizens of Cyprus, and was no longer connected to him.
In its statement, the SBU security agency said Novynskyi had tried to avoid the sanctions by transferring his assets to affiliated commercial structures.
Kiryanova dismissed the SBU's assertions as "nonsense" and said Novynskyi had transferred his assets to the trust before the sanctions were put in place.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's website, sanctions against Novynskyi entered into force on Dec. 1 -- the same day Kiryanova said he transferred the assets.
However, Smart Holding's chief legal counsel told Reuters on Friday that the names of sanctioned individuals were not published until Dec. 2, and that the sanctions actually entered into force on Dec. 6, when they were published on an official portal for legislation.
Kiryanova said Novynskyi had commenced plans to put his assets in a trust since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, and that he had no advance knowledge of the sanctions.
Novynskyi previously described the sanctions as "persecution on religious grounds."
SBU said it had found "pro-Kremlin religious literature" while conducting property searches during its investigation. Novynskyi's representative denied this had anything to do with him.
The representative said Novynskyi's case was driven by an "opportunistic claim" from a former business partner, whom he did not name.
The details of the accusations against him for aiding Russia have not been spelled out by the SBU.
Novynskyi has close ties with the UOC, where he holds the honorary title of protodeacon, and is often vocal in his support for the church.
He was regularly pictured with its most senior clerics before the Russian invasion, as well as after it. Last November, the head of the church travelled to Germany to meet the billionaire.
($1 = 36.5600 hryvnias)
(Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Tom Balmforth, Mike Harrison and Diane Craft)
