Ukraine: The EU has “frozen” Russian assets worth 13.8 billion euros

THE The European Union has so far ‘frozen’ assets worth 13.8 billion euros held by Russian oligarchs as well as other persons and entities sanctioned for Moscow’s war against Ukraine, the European Justice Commissioner said today.

The European official said the bulk of these assets came from just five EU member states, calling on the others to step up efforts. The European bloc has 98 entities and nearly 1,160 individuals blacklisted for Russia’s role in Ukraine.

“For now, we have frozen funds coming from oligarchs and other entities, worth 13.8 billion euros, it is huge“, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reyders said today.

“But a very large part, more than 12 billion euros, comes from five member countries, so we need to try to convince others to do the same“, he told reporters, upon his arrival at a meeting of European justice ministers in Prague. He did not specify which those five countries are.

He stated that he is expecting one final political agreement after the summer on a new legal instrument which will make breaching or attempting to circumvent the sanctions a criminal offense everywhere in the EU, which is not currently the case. The policy will take effect in the fall.

Reiders and the ministers also discussed working with Eurojust, the European criminal justice agency, to gather evidence of alleged war crimes in Ukraine, which has been the target of a Russian attack by land, sea and air since last February. .

He said Eurojust would store all evidence and work closely with EU member states, 14 of which are conducting their own national investigations into the war. “The most important thing is to have a very good coordination, not to duplicate the different situations, and to gather all the elements in the same place” said Reiders.

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