Germany freezes €4 bln worth of Russian assets

Germany has succeeded to freeze €4.1 billion of Russian assets, the finance ministry says.

The finance ministry reports this is "frozen money, economic resources of individuals, blocked money of the Russian central bank."

German FM spokesman Christian Wagner recalled the G7 decision when its members agreed to "make efforts to ensure that Russia pays for the reconstruction of Ukraine in the long term."

The G7 leaders decided to freeze Russian state assets in accordance with the legal systems of the member states. They also launched a register of damage caused during the aggression, which Wagner called an important step.

Berlin considers Russia-targeted sanctions "very effective."

Robert Severin, a representative of the German Ministry of Economy, says the global community should not forget that sanctions are very diverse, many of them act indirectly, so they should not be underestimated.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian allies are in a hurry to agree on a plan to confiscate $300 billion of frozen Russian assets. Currently, the US has proposed that the G7 working groups explore ways to do so.

Freezing of Russian assets

The UK has blocked more than $23 billion in assets and imposed sanctions on more than 1,550 Russians since the full-scale war.

Czechia froze the assets of Russian oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who is close to President Vladimir Putin.

Poland also offered to hand over the frozen assets to Ukraine and the EU.

On October 12, the Estonian government approved and sent to the parliament a resolution on the use of Russian frozen assets to help Ukraine.

The EU is studying the procedure of confiscating €200 billion of frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank. The European Commission is also developing its proposals.

Belgium has set up a special fund to support Ukraine in the amount of €1.7 billion euros, which is being filled by taxation of Russian assets frozen in the country.

In July, Italy announced that after the invasion, it froze the assets of Russian oligarchs worth about €2 billion.