Estonia becomes the first country to confiscate Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine

The Estonian government has made a decision to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, making Estonia the first country in Europe to develop such legal principles, according to ERR.
It is important to note that the European Commission has already confirmed the existence of legally acceptable options for using Russian assets, both private and state-owned, for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

"The European Union is working on finding this legal option, but we have prepared a legal decision under which we can use frozen Russian assets as an aggressor country and use them as compensation for the needs of Ukraine's restoration," said Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna.

Currently, within the European Union, assets of Russian individuals and legal entities subject to EU sanctions are frozen, amounting to approximately €24.1 billion. It is worth noting that the sanctions do not provide for the confiscation of these assets as it would violate the law.

A similar measure has also been developed on a global scale, for example, in Canada. In the United States, a bill on the confiscation and transfer of Russian assets to Ukraine as reparations for the damages caused by the Russian aggression has been officially registered. The bill is called the REPO Act (Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians) and has bipartisan support. It was introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The authors of the document state that the goal of the bill is to ensure that "Putin, not American taxpayers, will pay for the damage caused by the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine."

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, this is a significant international step. Zelensky also called for the confiscation of money belonging to members of the Russian elite in other countries.

"The Russian ruling class does not value people and is willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives. However, they are reluctant to part with their stolen money. They value their property. They must be completely deprived of it and the money should be transferred to the benefit of those who have suffered from Russian aggression, from this war of terror, for the benefit of our country and our people," said Zelensky.

Western countries that are allies of Ukraine have frozen substantial financial resources belonging to the Russian aggressor. For instance, since February 2022, over $300 billion of the central bank of Russia's external currency reserves have been frozen, which Russia perceived as a theft.

However, the exact amount of all frozen Russian assets in the West is still unknown as it includes not only frozen assets belonging to the aggressor country but also the property of private individuals. It is claimed that the amount of frozen private Russian assets worldwide is around $100 billion, including the property of oligarchs, Russian officials, propagandists, and supporters of the war in Ukraine.