Politico learned about the development in the EU of the possibility of confiscation of assets of Russians

A legal rule that would make the circumvention of sanctions against RUSSIA a criminal offense could be presented within two weeks.It will also allow the confiscation of the assets of Russians and companies from Russia frozen due to sanctions. Spain,arrested yacht "Tango"

In the European Union, within two weeks, they can develop and submit a legal norm that will make it possible to consider the circumvention of sanctions a crime and confiscate assets frozen due to sanctions, including Russians. This is reported by the European edition of Politico, citing two sources.

“The European Commission will present a bill that will help the EU confiscate frozen assets as part of the sanctions campaign against Russia. The proposal will be submitted within two weeks, it will make it a crime in the European Union to circumvent sanctions and provide legal grounds for the confiscation of assets, ”the newspaper writes.

Zelensky returned to the Rada with amendments the law on confiscation of Russian assets Politics

Sanction evasion is not now a criminal offense in all EU countries. As Politico's interlocutors noted, the initiative "is aimed at harmonizing the legal confusion." In order to gain the force of law in all EU countries, the proposal must be supported by all member countries of the union, as well as by a majority of members of the European Parliament.

“This rule will expand the legal possibilities for the confiscation of assets without a lawsuit and a COURT decision. Although sanctions make it possible to block the assets of Russian oligarchs, it is currently more difficult to confiscate them without trial and sentence, on an ongoing basis, ”the sources said.

At the same time, according to Politico sources, the question of how to deal with the confiscated assets will be decided by the EU countries. “The discussion about whether to send these funds to Ukraine continues,” one of the newspaper’s interlocutors said.

See also Prime Minister of Poland urged Russia to decide whether it will be with Europe or against it 01:28

Read on RBC Pro Pro Employee moved abroad: 4 options,how to register a job Instructions Pro How to register an employee remotely Instructions ProWhy CNN+ Closed and What Will Happen to Other Streaming ServicesHow Kellogg's Survived the 1930s RecessionPro How to protect your rights as a public procurement participant in a period of change: 5 tips Instructions Pro Something new:how to transfer an employee to another company during downtime Articles Pro Defective - to the exit:which managers will survive in the next two years Articles

Many countries, as well as the European Union, began to tighten and expand sanctions against Russia from the end of February in response to the start of a military operation in Ukraine. The restrictions included, among other things, freezing the assets of Russians, organizations and Russian companies that were included in the sanctions lists. Western countries also froze, according to the Ministry of Finance, about half of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves - about $300 billion.

At the end of March, BLOOMBERG reported that EU authorities were discussing the possibility of transferring frozen Russian assets in the EU to Ukraine. Citing a source, the agency wrote that the initiative is "at a very early stage" of development, a decision on this matter has not yet been made.

In early April, the European Union announced that at that time the EU countries had frozen Russian assets in the amount of €29.5 billion, including not only accounts, but also property: ships, helicopters, works of art, real estate. In addition, about €196 billion was blocked in the form of banking transactions.

The court in Fiji allowed to confiscate the superyacht "associated with Kerimov" Politics

On April 11, Europol, together with Eurojust and the EU external border security agency Frontex, launched Operation Oscar to search for Russian assets subject to sanctions and identify cases of circumvention of restrictions.

In Ukraine, they announced their intention to make claims on Russian assets frozen in the West in order to spend them on the restoration of the country. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Kiev is negotiating the withdrawal of Russia's frozen gold and foreign exchange reserves with the United States and other "partners". President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky estimated the cost of restoring the country after the Russian special operation at $600 billion.

At the end of April, the US House of Representatives passed a law that allows seized Russian assets to be used to support Ukraine. In particular, we are talking about the assets of foreigners received by the owners thanks to the support of the Russian authorities.

The HEAD of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said on May 9 that Brussels should consider confiscating assets and transferring them to Ukraine. He cited the example of "billions of dollars" of assets seized by the United States from the Central Bank of Afghanistan, which, according to him, will later be used to compensate victims of terrorism and for humanitarian assistance to the country. The diplomat noted that "it would be logical" to consider similar steps with Russia's frozen reserves.

The NATIONAL BANK of Ukraine allowed the confiscation of the assets of Sberbank and Prominvestbank

The Kremlin called the freezing of assets of Russian businessmen and companies a "robbery." “These are absolutely honest legal entrepreneurs. They were robbed. They were robbed in the same way that travelers in the Wild West were robbed with the help of Smith and Wesson, ”said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president.

The head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, has previously stated that the Russian side will challenge the freezing of gold and foreign exchange reserves and is already preparing lawsuits. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries of actually stealing Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves.

In response to the decision to confiscate assets, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin proposed to confiscate assets in Russia from businesses from unfriendly countries. According to him, the authorities of the countries that announced their intention to seize Russian assets are “engaged in theft.”

Which countries have announced sanctions and severing diplomatic relations with Russia. Map Politics