Sanctions against oligarchs: "Valuable time is wasted"
Created: 11/22/2022, 5:03 p.m
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
The government has launched a new set of tools to better enforce sanctions against Russian oligarchs.
An expert criticizes the plans extensively.
Berlin – After the outbreak of the Ukraine war and the adoption of sanctions against Russian oligarchs, the European authorities began to hunt for their possessions: yachts and palaces were confiscated, assets in accounts were frozen.
Italy, for example, was able to record some successes – but Germany struggled.
The authorities were quickly overwhelmed by the complicated network of straw people and shell companies behind which many Putin friends hide their belongings.
New central office to help enforce sanctions
The federal cabinet now wants to change that and has launched a new set of tools to better enforce sanctions against Russian oligarchs.
Among other things, a new central office for the enforcement of sanctions is to coordinate the work of the competent authorities in Germany.
This office should also receive tips from whistleblowers.
If a company violates sanctions or threatens to violate them, it should be able to appoint a special officer to monitor them.
According to the Ministry of Finance, part of the toolbox is also a register of the assets of sanctioned persons.
So far it has been difficult in Germany to determine which assets, which properties, houses or yachts, for example, belong to an oligarch.
The real estate sector in particular is now to become more transparent.
Data on owners and properties from the land registers are to be linked to the transparency register in order to facilitate the search for owners.
Expert criticizes government plans: "questionable condition"
But the introduction of the central office is now being criticized.
"Valuable time is wasted," quotes
Wirtschaftswoche
Frank Buckenhofer from the police union (GdP).
Instead of tediously setting up a new position, it is "much faster" and "more effective" to upgrade existing authority structures.
According to Buckenhofer, the customs investigation service already has the necessary experience with the necessary financial and asset investigations.
In a statement for the Finance Committee of the Bundestag, the expert also noted that the planned law does not expressly prohibit the use of the assets.
Unlike frozen assets in accounts, "frozen movable and immovable assets such as real estate, yachts and cars can continue to be used," according to Buckenhofer.
He described this as a "questionable state of affairs", which means that the sanctions are "not really or only moderately noticeable" for the sanctioned person.
The Federal Ministry of Finance, on the other hand, rates the introduction of the central office as a success.
According to Wirtschaftswoche
, a spokesman explains that expectations and orders have been “fully fulfilled”
.
Assets of 4.8 billion euros have so far been blocked by sanctioned persons.
(lma/dpa)
