Ireland freezes €1.72 billion of Russian assets through sanctions

Ireland has frozen €1.72 billion of assets linked to sanctioned Russian individuals and entities in the wake of the country’s attack on Ukraine in February.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland gave the figure to The Irish Times on June 21, saying it was up to date as of last Friday (June 17) and comes from data reported to it by the Central Bank. 

It marks a significant increase from a figure of €839 million that was contained in an EU document in early April covering the extent to which Russian assets had been frozen at that stage across the bloc.

It is believed that activity in Ireland is dominated by financial assets contained in funds and special purpose vehicles (SPVs) in Dublin’s international services hub, rather than the oligarch yacht, jet and luxury property confiscations that have grabbed headlines in other jurisdictions in recent months as a result of western sanctions.

The Central Bank wrote on June 20 to a number of business and professional organisations to remind them of its role in overseeing financial sanctions in the State, and of the responsibility of every Irish person to uphold EU prohibitions as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues.