Sanctions at work: Russia is about to bid adieu to its blocked assets

The Russian Central Bank has acknowledged that Russia will be probably unable to recover its assets blocked abroad, Glavcom reported referring to the bank’s press service.

“As a result of the sanctions [imposed on Russia for its war on Ukraine], part of the assets of Russian banks turned out to be completely blocked… The prospects for the return of these assets seem extremely low, even though, from a legal point of view, they have not yet been confiscated… The fact of their depreciation cannot be ignored,” the Central Bank statement reads.

In November 2022, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said €300 billion of the Russian Central Bank reserves had been blocked, and €19 billion of Russian oligarchs’ money had been frozen. She also announced the development of a structure to manage and invest the blocked and frozen assets, using the proceeds for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian World Congress has long been calling to create a legislative framework that would allow for the immediate confiscation of Russian assets. “We see over 250 million dollars of Russian assets in Canada alone, from what we know. Whereas at the global level, these are thousands of billions of dollars that Russians, Russian oligarchs have stolen from their citizens, and we must monitor these assets – create advocacy and political pressure,” UWC President Paul Grod said in an interview with a Ukrainian TV channel on Oct. 27.