Belgium has already blocked 3.5 billion euros in assets of Russian oligarchs and entities under the European sanctions adopted in response to the war in Ukraine. This is evident from an overview of the European Commission that the French news agency AFP has been able to get hold of. All together, the 27 member states have already blocked 18.9 billion euros in Russian money, but none more than Belgium.
Only eight Member States blocked more than 1 billion euros: Belgium (3.5 billion), Luxembourg (2.5 billion), Italy (2.3 billion), Germany (2.2 billion), Ireland (1.8 billion), Austria (1.8 billion), France (1.3 billion) and Spain (1 billion). The Commission collected the amounts from the Member States themselves, and the overview was finalized on 25 November.
Belgium and Luxembourg also seized assets from the Russian National Settlement Depository (NSD), the central securities settlement registry sanctioned by the EU. Belgium froze 46.9 billion euros, Luxembourg 3 billion.
Malta, a country that operated a controversial system of ‘golden passports’ offered to wealthy investors, is at the tail end of the European pack, with €146,558 in blocked funds. Greece is penultimate with 212,201 euros.
For their role in the conflict in Ukraine, 1,241 individuals and 118 entities have already had their assets blocked on European soil. An entry ban was also issued against the persons.
Obligation
On Thursday, European Commissioners Didier Reynders, in charge of justice, and Mairead McGuinness, in charge of financial services, reminded member states that freezing the assets of persons and entities that have been sanctioned is mandatory. It also needs to be communicated.
“The information provided and the frequency with which it is released continues to differ from member state to member state. This harms our collective efforts,” Reynders and McGuinness wrote to the finance ministers. “We therefore ask you to proceed quickly and efficiently with the freezing of funds and to ask your authorities to update the information they provide to the European Commission more regularly.”
At their last European summit, on October 20 and 21, European leaders asked the Commission to study options for using the frozen funds to rebuild Ukraine. On 30 November, the Commission put forward a number of proposals on how it intends to do this.
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