EU has frozen ten billion euros of oligarch assets

They are supposed to support the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine: That is why numerous oligarchs were denied access to their assets. The EU wants to use the money for reconstruction.

In the course of the Ukraine war, Russian oligarchs lost access to luxury yachts, real estate and other assets worth almost ten billion euros. According to information from the German Press Agency, this is based on figures from the EU Commission. On April 8, the value was still 6.7 billion euros.

The EU Commission wants to present a legislative proposal this Wednesday that should make it possible to confiscate frozen Russian money. This money could then be used to rebuild Ukraine. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized on Tuesday: “We should turn every stone for this – if possible also Russian assets that we have frozen.”

Lindner: “In our constitution there are guarantees for private assets”

Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, the EU has put a number of Russian oligarchs on the sanctions list because they are accused of supporting the war. At the beginning of March, an EU special unit was set up to ensure better cooperation between EU countries and track down the assets of the oligarchs.

A good month later, the first balance was drawn: the EU states had frozen assets of 29.5 billion euros by then – 6.7 billion euros came from the assets of oligarchs. Added to this were the frozen assets of the Russian central bank.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) said on Tuesday that Germany was open to a debate about using confiscated Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine. However, one must distinguish between state funds – such as the central bank – and private funds. “In our constitution there are guarantees for private assets,” said Lindner.