German Finance Ministry names amount of frozen Russian assets

German authorities have frozen about €3.5 billion of Russian assets in accordance with the European Union (EU) sanctions regime. This was stated in the Ministry of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany on December 14.

"Now Germany has frozen or immobilized assets worth about €3.5 billion in accordance with two EU regulations," a finance ministry official told TASS.

She noted that they include frozen funds and economic resources of the listed persons or organizations, as well as foreign assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) placed in the states subject to the ban on operations.

According to the FRG Finance Ministry official, frequent changes in the annexes to the mentioned EU regulations and the completion of the asset investigation are also important factors.

Last step: West says loan to Kiev agreed from profits from frozen Russian assets

US shifts responsibility for Ukraine to allies

Earlier, on December 11, the European Union's (EU) new head of diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, said she doubted the balance of Russian assets that had been frozen by the West.

At the same time, The New York Times reported that US President-elect Donald Trump may unfreeze blocked Russian assets, as well as cut aid to Ukraine. It is specified that the lifting of sanctions against Russia will not affect the European part of the approved loan of $20 billion.

The day before Washington allocated to Kiev $20 billion, which is supposed to be repaid at the expense of revenues from frozen Russian assets. This was reported by the U.S. Ministry of Finance.

In June, the G7 countries promised in the final statement of the summit in Puglia, Italy, that they would provide Ukraine with about $50 billion in loans by the end of 2024, to be repaid from the proceeds of Russian assets.

According to the latest data, the G7 countries, the EU and Australia have frozen €260 billion in Central Bank assets since February 2022. Back in February, the head of Euroclear's international platform in Belgium, Liv Mostri, noted that the transfer of proceeds from Russian assets as aid to Ukraine was very close to indirect confiscation, which could have exactly the same impact on markets as a direct seizure.

Western countries have tightened sanctions pressure on Russia in connection with the special operation to protect Donbass. The decision to launch it was announced on February 24, 2022, after the aggravation of the situation in the region. Soon the EU approved the decision to freeze the assets of the Russian Central Bank.