Russia Ukraine War: EU freezes $13.8bn Russian assets

EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said on Tuesday that the European Union had frozen $13.8 billion worth of Russian assets since the invasion of Ukraine, according to a foreign news agency.

“For the moment, we have frozen – oligarchs and other entities – 13.8 billion euros ($ 13.8bn), so that’s big,” Renders told reporters in Prague.

“But I must say that a large part of it, more than 12 billion … is coming from five member countries,” he told an informal meeting of EU justice ministers hosted by the Czech Republic. First of all, it has a rotating European Union. Presidency

He declined to name the five countries but said he expected other members of the 27-member bloc to step up efforts soon.

In mid-June, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner put the value of Germany’s frozen assets at 4.48 billion euros.

Ukrainian Justice Minister Denis Maliska said in Prague that the assets should be used to compensate for war losses.

He said that at present they are protected by sovereign immunity but our understanding is that the assets of a state (which has started a war, or invaded) will not be protected by sovereign immunity.

• Russian assets have been frozen by Swiss authorities

“We are suffering economic losses and it makes no sense to cover all these losses with the money of Ukrainian or European taxpayers,” he added.

In late June, an international sanctions task force said its members, including several EU countries, had withheld $30 billion in assets from Russian oligarchs and officials.