The aggressor intends to launch the confiscation of foreign assets for legal entities. The possibility of confiscation of the property of individuals will be a court decision.
Against the background of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia declared its readiness to take “appropriate steps” in the event of seizing the state property of the aggressor abroad and transferring it Russian assets in favor of Ukraine.
As the head of the Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Andriy Klishas stated, the aggressor country intends to launch the confiscation of foreign assets for legal entities, reports the Russian RBC.
Klishas also noted that the possibility of confiscation of the property of individuals will be a court decision, since the Criminal Code of the aggressor has articles that provide for partial confiscation of property.
The war in Ukraine and Russian assets:
As of December 16, 2022, Hungary has frozen 870 million euros Russian assets.
As of January 3, 2023, the EU and G7 countries have frozen more than 300 billion dollars Russian assets. Switzerland blocked about 7.5 billion francs belonging to Russians, as well as 15 real estate objects. However, Switzerland is not ready to confiscate frozen Russian assets, as other countries insist.
The EU put forward the idea of confiscating these assets to restore Ukraine’s destroyed infrastructure. The European Commission has put forward the idea of transferring the frozen assets to a fund where they could be actively managed for profit to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.
At the same time, Brussels assumed that the assets will not be irrevocably confiscated – they will be returned to the Russian Federation if a peace agreement is signed.
Some member states are skeptical of the idea because there are doubts that confiscation can be done legally. Some officials say that could set a risky precedent, inflating risks to financial stability. Another obstacle is that such confiscation may require new legislation.
On January 4, 2023, the German authorities announced that they were ready confiscate Russian assets to aid Ukraine.