/ world today news/ Bills are being prepared in Great Britain, the USA and the EU, which will allow the frozen Russian assets to be confiscated and transferred to Kiev. According to Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, this “would be ideal for Ukraine” but would set a dangerous precedent for “many other situations”. Will the West dare to take such a step?
Correction for Russia
The European Union froze ten billion euros of Russian businessmen and 23 billion of the Central Bank. In total, around half a trillion dollars have been blocked by domestic individuals and legal entities around the world.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, considers the transfer of assets to Kiev “fair”. For this purpose, it is necessary to correct the legislation to which the Europeans are persistently pushing the Ukrainian leadership.
There are already cases of confiscation of property. Thus, Germany confiscated three LNG tankers from the former “daughter” of Gazprom: “Amur”, “Reka Ob” and “Clean Energy”. In addition, according to the media, in June, the prosecutor’s office in Munich seized three apartments from the family of a member of the State Duma (his identity has not been disclosed).
“The confiscation of property can be provided for by the legislation of European countries. But confiscation without a judicial process is illegal,” says lawyer Alexander Kukuev.
So far, only Switzerland has publicly spoken out against the European Commission’s initiative. Local banks store money not only for Russian billionaires, but also for citizens of other countries. Confiscation may force them to withdraw funds from the country.
“The right to property is fundamental. It is necessary to ensure that people are protected by state power. This is called ‘liberal democracy,'” said Swiss President Ignazio Cassis.
London needs no laws
Already in January, the British authorities threatened that the sanctions would affect the investments of Russian businessmen and companies. According to experts in London, individuals allegedly “linked to the Kremlin” bought real estate for 1.5 billion pounds.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is a staunch supporter of confiscation. “We just need to work out the details,” she said. This has already been done by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Finance and may not require changes to the law.
It is about those who are under sanctions, said Russian Ambassador to Great Britain Andrey Kelin. “This is a blow to the sacred right of private property, the entire legal system and international law, if it ever happens,” the diplomat stressed.
Britain’s blacklist includes dozens of companies and hundreds of people, including Sberbank chief German Gref, businessmen Oleg Tinkov and Roman Abramovich, who sold Chelsea football club for $2 billion in May. The deal was agreed with the UK government and the European Commission, but almost all of the unfreezing money will go to charity.
London is considered the financial capital of the world and if confiscation were to happen, confidence in the City and the country would suffer significantly, Kellin added. “In the current situation, we see that political interests prevail over any reasonable arguments. Nothing can be ruled out. Here they can go bankrupt, although I don’t know how realistic that is,” he said.
The US has its doubts
In late April, Joe Biden approached Congress with a proposal to pass a law that would facilitate the seizure of Russian assets for the subsequent transfer of funds to Ukraine. A total of 30 billion dollars of Russians and about 300 billion of the Central Bank were frozen abroad.
The president’s initiative was received coldly. “Senior officials warned that it was illegal and that investors from other countries would no longer trust the US,” The New York Times reported.
However, in March the Ministry of Justice created a KleptoCapture task force to seize Russian yachts and luxury goods. The administration hopes that Congress will allow all of this to be implemented in favor of Ukraine.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about luxury yachts, bank accounts or airplanes. We are not excluding anything from the list,” said First Deputy Minister of Justice Lisa Monaco.
The experience of the Bolsheviks
Economist Alexey Vedev believes that the withdrawal of reserves by the Bank of Russia will lead to chaos around the world. “The last 30 years have seen intense globalization of the economy. But now no country can feel safe placing assets abroad,” he explained.
If the West does decide, the response will be mirrored. “In theory, it is possible to confiscate all enterprises remaining in Russia that have not yet been sold to local owners,” says lawyer Pavel Utkin. “They will also deal with bank accounts of individuals and legal entities. Bearing in mind that in the accounts of the Russian embassies in some European countries are currently being blocked, the diplomatic missions of these countries will receive the same in our country”.
Foreign assets in Russia are unlikely to exceed a hundred billion, even taking into account the funds of foreign investment funds and individuals. But that’s not the main thing. “The West must be aware of the irreparable consequences – such as an immediate stoppage of energy and food supplies, as well as the blocking of alternative routes for transporting goods to Europe,” the expert points out.
Economist Andrey Loboda, director of external relations at BitRiver, suggested that Russia “could follow in the footsteps of the Bolsheviks and nationalize the ownership of Western companies.” “The key effective response is simply bound to include a freeze on foreign debt payments to the state and businesses, as well as any dividends on shares of Russian companies to Western private and institutional investors,” he notes.
At the same time, the confiscation of the assets of sanctioned Russian billionaires will lead to lengthy legal proceedings.
“Even if the laws are changed, property rights can only be taken away on the basis of a fair judicial process,” says Kukuev. “And the free interpretation of legal norms by the European Commission and the non-legal nature of the measures open wide prospects for challenging the confiscations in the courts of the EU.”
Experts agree that the appropriation of Russian property by the West is tantamount to declaring economic war. And there will be no winners.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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