Nine months after the Russian attack on Ukraine, around five billion euros from the circle of the Kremlin power clique have been frozen in Germany. However, due to a lack of staff, the authorities are dependent on the self-reporting of the oligarchs.
In Germany, after EU sanctions because of the Ukraine war, 5.046 billion euros in Russian assets have so far been frozen. The number was given by the federal government in response to a request from left-wing MP Christian Görke. According to this, 2.217 billion euros of the frozen values are accounted for by funds that were reported to the Bundesbank by German banks. In addition, there would be “movable assets” worth 1.099 billion euros.
The government did not provide any further details. In June she spoke of 4.48 billion euros in frozen Russian assets. Compared to July, the total rose by only half a billion euros. According to the report, only eight sanctioned people or companies reported their assets so far. These are, among other things, account balances, company investments and securities.
The left MP Görke criticized that the decision to enforce the asset freeze notification obligation was a flop. "Oligarchs hadn't reported anything for several months," said Görke. Those affected know that investigators in Germany are groping in the dark, partly because land registers are not digitized and authorities lack staff. "It's long overdue to tighten the oligarch sanctions to hit those who profit from Putin's circle of power," said Görke.
At the weekend it became known that oligarchs and companies from Russia and Belarus are defending themselves against EU sanctions with complaints at the European Court of Justice. The "Bild" newspaper reported that 61 lawsuits from sanctioned persons and companies are currently pending in Luxembourg.
The oligarch Alisher Usmanow, who is well-known in Germany, also complained. A large-scale raid by investigative and tax authorities caused a sensation in his adopted Bavarian home of Rottach-Egern. Usmanov had tried to be removed from the EU sanctions list by emergency decision. But the president of the competent court of the European Union refused.
