EU governments have frozen about 30 billion euros ($ 32.6 billion) in assets related to oligarchs and other sanctioned people linked to the Kremlin, the European Commission said today, Reuters reported.
Assets totaling 29.5 billion euros since the start of the war in Ukraine include bank accounts, boats, helicopters, real estate, and works of art, according to the Commission, the EU’s executive body.
In addition, about 196 billion euros in transactions have been blocked.
However, the Commission did not estimate the total value of the oligarchs’ assets in the European Union.
The volume of frozen resources may also represent only a small fraction of assets believed to belong to people sanctioned by the bloc following Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine. The Netherlands alone estimates that about 27 billion euros in assets in the country and related jurisdictions belong to blacklisted oligarchs.
Wealthy people can use fictitious people or anonymous fictitious companies and trusts to conceal their assets, making it difficult to identify them, EU officials and diplomats said.
The Commission also noted that only about half of the 27 EU countries have so far reported on measures they have taken to freeze assets, despite the legal obligation to do so. Countries that have shared information are not listed.
Reuters reported in March that several member states were reluctant to share asset data publicly.
Following the invasion of Ukraine, the EU sanctioned nearly 700 Kremlin-linked people, including many wealthy oligarchs and businessmen. Another 200 people are to be added to the list today.
