The US Department of Justice plans to begin transferring part of the confiscated Russian assets to Ukraine through the State Department in the coming months.
This is reported by Ukrinform with reference to Andrew Adams, director of the Task Force KleptoCapture of the US Department of Finance.
On December 22, the US Congress passed the law on the state budget for 2023. President Joe Biden signed it. The law allowed the Ministry of Justice, through the state secretary, to transfer confiscated Russian funds to the benefit of Ukraine.
Assets seized due to export control violations are not covered by this rule, Adams said.
"Itʼs not a silver bullet, but itʼs hopeful that weʼll see the first transfers [of seized assets] from the Justice Department to the State Department in the coming weeks and months," he said.
- On September 23, 2022, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that Russian assets worth $300-500 billion were frozen in the West. Currently, Ukraine is lobbying for the adoption of a new international agreement that will facilitate the confiscation of these assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine..
- The European Union, together with its partners, also wants to develop a plan to confiscate frozen Russian assets. Then they want to hand them over to Ukraine to compensate for the damage caused by the Russian invasion.
- 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, Michkel Tamm.