Enlarge image
Police officers next to suspected oligarch yacht in Palma de Mallorca
Photo: Francisco Ubilla / dpa
More and more Russian oligarchs' assets are being frozen in the European Union.
In Germany in particular, significantly more assets belonging to Russian oligarchs are said to have been confiscated in recent months on the basis of the sanctions imposed for the war of aggression against Ukraine.
In total, the billionaires and their associated entities are said to have lost access to luxury yachts, helicopters, paintings, real estate and other assets worth more than 12.5 billion euros as a result of the sanctions.
This is reported by the newspaper "Die Welt", citing a spokesman for the EU Commission.
The value of the frozen assets “almost doubled” from 6.7 billion euros in April.
EU task force to track down assets
According to the information, it is said in circles of the EU Commission that the steep increase in frozen assets is “decisively” due to numerous assets that were located and blocked in Germany.
No specific figures were given on this.
However, the assets of “more than 1,100 people and institutions are currently frozen,” it said, citing the EU Commission.
Since the attack on Ukraine began, the EU has sanctioned a number of Russian oligarchs who are accused of having close ties with the Kremlin and of profiting from them for business.
At the beginning of March, a special unit was set up to ensure better cooperation between EU countries and track down the assets of the oligarchs.
Several politicians have recently called for the frozen assets to be used to rebuild Ukraine.
Researchers at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) have recently been able to show that sanctions against Russian oligarchs also affect the companies they manage.
Their companies are therefore experiencing greater losses in value than other companies in which no one is sanctioned.
Apr/Reuters/AFP
