The Russian elite hit sanctions for the attack on Ukraine. This affects assets in the billions of euros, reports Finance Minister Christian Lindner. It’s about central bank deposits, company investments and yachts.

In the course of the sanctions due to the Ukraine war, Russian assets worth 4.48 billion euros have been frozen in Germany. This refers to values ​​that are now covered by the six packages of EU sanctions, said Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) on Wednesday.

These include central bank deposits, company investments as well as ships and yachts. The EU had imposed sanctions on members of the Russian ruling elite from the beginning of March. In Germany, a law was passed in May to make it easier to confiscate the assets of Russian oligarchs.

Among other things, it created the possibility of securing assets until the ownership situation was clarified. In addition, it should make it easier for the competent federal and state authorities to access and exchange data on the persons or companies affected by sanctions.

In mid-March, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Finance had already set up a task force to ensure the full enforcement of the sanctions against Russia. The expertise of various authorities was bundled in the special unit – such as the Federal Ministries of Economics, Finance, Interior, Justice and Transport.