The European Commission has frozen Russian assets in Europe in the amount of 24.1 billion euros.
At the end of May, EU countries froze 24.1 billion euros belonging to individuals and legal entities that fell under anti-Russian sanctions. Growth over the past six months amounted to 5.2 billion euros. The Welt am Sonntag newspaper writes about this, citing data from the European Commission.
It noted that 1,473 oligarchs and 205 companies are currently under EU sanctions against Russia.
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As for the assets of the Bank of Russia, they are frozen in the EU by about 200 billion euros, and together with the countries of the European Union and the Group of Seven (G7) – by about 300 billion euros.
Welt am Sonntag says there are still legal obstacles to implementing the European Commission’s plans to send frozen assets to Ukraine’s reconstruction.
To confiscate assets, European countries would have to change their national laws, as Canada did when it adopted the Russian Federation’s asset confiscation law in June. In Brussels, however, they fear that by doing so Europe will scare away many Chinese companies or companies from African countries.
In this regard, the EC believes that the fixed assets of the Central Bank of Russia should not be touched. “When the sanctions are lifted, the money has to be returned,” said the representative of the European Commission.
The EU is now discussing the possibility of transferring the funds to a trust fund that will invest them in the capital market. Interest from earnings may be received by Ukraine. In the long term, the European Commission plans to consider the currency “Russian” in the event that the Russian Federation pays compensation to Ukraine if a peace agreement is reached.
The EC has not yet made a final decision. A decision is expected at the next European Council summit at the end of June.
The newspaper also said that it is impossible to confiscate the property of the oligarchs – villas, yachts, cars or art objects, because the suspicion of links to the Russian authorities is not a basis for confiscation. This can only be done if there is evidence of a violation of the sanctions regime.
It was previously reported that, along with Hungary, new EU sanctions against Russia have now been blocked by Greece.
Source: korrespondent
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