Russia’s Frozen Funds: Confiscation and Retaliation – Moscow’s Symposium on Unfriendly Countries’ Assets

2023-10-29 06:33:39

The theft of Russia’s frozen funds will require a symmetrical response, Moscow will confiscate more assets of unfriendly countries than European countries have frozen, stated Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin in his Telegram channel.

European politicians, according to Volodin, have once more begun to discuss the “theft” of frozen Russian assets in order to continue supporting Ukraine through them. He recalled that at the last summit in Brussels, the leaders of the European Union countries were unable to agree on financing for Kyiv in the amount of 50 billion euros. The decision to confiscate Russian funds will require a symmetrical response from Moscow, Volodin emphasized.

“In this case, much larger assets belonging to unfriendly countries will be confiscated than our funds frozen in Europe,” he wrote.

The State Duma speaker added that since last year the EU has spent more than 85 billion euros to support Kyiv. Such assistance led to rising prices, recession and the decline of European industry, he believes.

“The index of business activity in the manufacturing and services sectors of the eurozone has dropped to the lowest value previously observed only during the coronavirus pandemic,” Volodin said, adding that economic growth in the eurozone has decreased by almost five times compared to 2022. and will be only 0.7%.

This week, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, following the EU summit in Brussels, announced that income from frozen Russian assets of 211 billion euros now goes only to individual EU financial institutions. The EC intends to soon submit proposals on how to use the proceeds from reinvesting these funds to support Ukraine.

In December 2022, the US Senate approved an amendment according to which confiscated assets of Russian businessmen might be transferred for humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine. In September 2023, the US Department of Justice announced that they were looking for an opportunity to transfer confiscated Russian assets worth more than $1 billion to Ukraine.

The Kremlin called the freezing of Russian assets theft and a violation of international law. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov also said that Moscow may turn to the courts if the EU introduces a profit tax on frozen Russian assets.

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