EU freezes Russian assets worth €68 billion

The EU has frozen a total of €68 billion in Russian assets — most of which are in Belgium, according to an internal Commission document seen by POLITICO.

Belgium accounts for €50 billion of the €68 billion figure, Paola Tamma writes in to report. Luxembourg is second with €5.5 billion. Together with Italy, Germany, Ireland, Austria and France, they account for over 90 per cent of the frozen assets.

But the EU doesn’t know how much of Russia’s national reserves are frozen in the EU. The internal document gives the approximate figure of €33.8 billion, but adds that “this is now under assessment, so not to be quoted.”

The Commission is still waiting for the Council to approve a decision to make sanctions evasion an EU crime, which would facilitate the confiscation of assets in case of a criminal conviction. The problem — somewhat surprisingly — is Poland, which has stalled the process, according to the document. While Warsaw is entirely on board, it first needs to pass a national law, which it’s in the process of doing, a diplomat said.