Reuters: Greece and Malta froze the fewest Russian assets among EU countries

Greece and Malta lag behind other European Union countries in the process of freezing Russian assets.

This is reported by Reuters with reference to an official representative of the EU and internal documents.

So far, 27 EU countries have announced freezes on Russian assets worth around €20.3 billion, with Italy, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria reporting freezes of more than €1 billion. Almost every other EU country has frozen several million dollars worth of assets, according to an EU executive commission document seen by Reuters.

At the same time, Greece informed the European Union about the freezing of assets in the amount of €212 thousand, and Malta — €147 thousand.

“Itʼs a little strange. Either they donʼt have much or they donʼt do their job. Or they did something, but didnʼt tell us, although they had a chance,” said the EU official on condition of anonymity.

Currently, more than 1,300 people and 120 organizations from Russia are on the sanctions list of the European Union. Their assets are frozen but not seized. In order to transfer them, for example, to the restoration of Ukraine, it is necessary to define a legal mechanism, which does not yet exist.

According to a Reuters interlocutor, the leadership of the European Union may announce progress on these issues on February 3, when it will go to Kyiv for the “Ukraine-EU” summit.

• In November 2022, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed to create a special fund to compensate Ukraine for losses from the frozen assets of the Central Bank and the assets of private individuals. However, until now, European countries have not made decisions on the start of confiscation of Russian property.
• Estonia was the first European country to start preparations for the confiscation of Russian assets. The countryʼs government plans to present a legal plan for the seizure of assets in January, said the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Michael Tamm.
• Canada and the US are also developing mechanisms to confiscate Russian assets. They plan to direct them to the restoration of Ukraine.