Bercy hardens the hunt for the assets of Russian oligarchs.
The
task force
in charge of seizing these assets, made up of the Treasury, Tracfin and the General Directorate of Public Finances, has just published a new list on Tuesday: that of 40 real estate companies which allow large Russian fortunes to acquire or to control real estate properties in France.
Among them, 31 are domiciled in France, 4 in Luxembourg, 3 in Switzerland and 2 in Monaco.
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Since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, 64 prestigious properties whose purchase value is around 700 million euros have been frozen in France.
Until now, the addresses of these properties had been made public, but not the real estate structures that house them.
The administration was waiting for the agreement of the CNIL to disseminate this information, which explains why it is communicated out of step with the first sets of sanctions.
Prevent any real estate transaction
With this new list, Bercy intends to ensure compliance with the freezing of real estate properties of Russian personalities.
“It is a question of shedding light on these structures because, the more they are known, the more we will avoid any risk of bypassing the freeze (…) Once these companies are known, it is no longer possible to take advantage of their opacity to carry out an operation, voluntary or not, which can benefit the oligarch who controls it.
This is particularly useful for notaries, real estate agents or banks who are notified of the freezing for their structures and who therefore cannot carry out transactions”,
we detail on the side of Bercy.
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Following the European sanctions decided against personalities close to the Kremlin, the French authorities have already blocked 1.13 billion euros of assets belonging to Russian individuals, including more than 709 million euros of real estate, 205 million euros in freighters, yachts and helicopters, 195 million euros in financial assets and 23.5 million euros in works of art.
