EU works on seizure of frozen Russian assets

Didier Reynders, a member of the European Union (EU) Commission for Justice, recalled that Russian assets of different types were frozen and stated that the next stage is the process of confiscation of these assets.

Reynders and Ukraine’s chief prosecutor Andriy Kostin made a statement to the press ahead of the meeting of the “Freeze and Seizure Working Group” set up by the EU for Russian assets frozen under sanctions.

Reynders, who recalled that they have implemented several sanctions against Russia, said: “We had the opportunity to freeze the assets of the oligarchs and the institutions on the sanctions list, totaling 21.5 billion euros.”

‘WE CONTINUE’

Reynders, recalling that the reserves of the Central Bank of Russia are also frozen, “we continue to work on other assets of a different type, such as the reserves of the Central Bank of Russia.” he said.

Noting that new assets are being frozen, Reynders recalled that there are some transactions frozen at Euroclear, which provides services for bonds, bills and securities.

“Locking or freezing different types of assets was the first step,” Reynders said. he performed the assessment of it.

Reynders noted that the second step is the asset forfeiture process along with the identification of criminal offenses. saying.

He froze 300,000 million euros

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin also stated that the losses of Ukraine and its people must be compensated with Russian funds and assets.

“There may be different legal instruments,” Kostin said. However, it is extremely important that Ukrainians receive compensation not only from those who helped the aggressor, but also from the Russian state.” he said.

Western countries, especially the EU, had frozen some 300 billion euros from the Russian Central Bank in the context of the war and the sanctions they imposed.

The Freeze and Seizure Task Force, established by the EU Commission in March last year, holds regular meetings to better coordinate the application of EU sanctions against individuals and companies. (AA)