News item | 02-04-2022 | 15:04
The Netherlands imposes heavy sanctions on Russia. In the letter to parliament of 1 April 2022, Minister Hoekstra of Foreign Affairs and Minister Kaag of Finance discuss promises made by the cabinet about sanctions against Russia.
Ukrainian President Zelensky addressed the House of Representatives this week. There he called on the Netherlands to further increase the pressure against Russia. Afterwards, Minister Hoekstra informed the House about the implementation of various sanctions. The letter to Parliament that was sent out on Friday 1 April contains a further explanation of these implementation plans.
Letter to parliament about sanctions against Russia
The government is paying great attention to the implementation and enforcement of the sanctions against Russia as a result of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Significant strides have already been made since the adoption of these unprecedented sanctions.
National Coordinator Sanctions Compliance and Enforcement
The cabinet has decided to appoint a National Coordinator for Sanctions Compliance and Enforcement (NCSH) with effect from 4 April. The aim is to further strengthen compliance with and enforcement of sanctions. The National Coordinator directs a government-wide task group. This task force is led by a project director and all relevant departments and implementing bodies participate.
Important points of attention for the National Coordinator are:
- active detection and enforcement of sanctions against the most important Russian persons and entities on the sanctions list (top 200).
- improve supervision and enforcement of sanctions in areas where this is not yet regulated. This includes real estate, art and heritage, business ownership and non-financial services.
- resolve bottlenecks in compliance and enforcement of sanctions. For example in the field of information exchange between authorities.
- Streamline coordination between departments and relevant institutions, and improve communication with companies and stakeholders in society.
Current sanctions against Russia
The Netherlands has imposed sanctions against Russia in collaboration with the European Union. On the website of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) there is a overview of current sanctions†
Implementing and monitoring sanctions
A number of figures of the Dutch implementation of the EU sanctions:
- 516 million euros in frozen assets.
- 155 million euros in blocked transactions.
- Customs has assessed 13,000 containers destined for Russia and Belarus, and checked 32,000 declarations of freight shipments to Russia and Belarus. Customs checks 100% of the ejections against the risk profiles.
- There is a suspicion that the sanctions have been violated in 46 freight shipments. This is controlled by the Dutch services.
- 1 Russian plane is standing still because of the aviation ban.
- 5 yachts under construction cannot leave (export ban).
- As far as is known, there are no yachts belonging to Russian persons on the sanction list in Dutch ports. There is a yacht under surveillance.
- Real estate belonging to Russian persons or entities on the sanctions list has been frozen. Sale, rental and mortgage are no longer possible.
International comparison
It is difficult to compare countries when it comes to the severity of the sanctions imposed. The amount of frozen amounts in each country depends on the number of sanctioned clients or institutions, and the amount of their funds. A letter will be sent to the House next week to provide more information about this international comparison.
Other sanctions against Russia
The letter addresses a number of other issues related to the sanctions against Russia:
- Seizing or expropriating real estate.
- Supervision of trust offices. The Ministry of Finance is conducting research into the future of the trust sector in the Netherlands.
- Information exchange of the tax authorities.
- The presence of aircraft of Russian oligarchs in parts of the Kingdom.