German sanctions against Russian oligarchs advancing slowly

Germany is making slow progress in enforcing sanctions against Russian oligarchs and institutions, according to government numbers seen by Reuters on Saturday.

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Germany has frozen around €5.25 billion ($5.57 billion) in assets belonging to sanctioned oligarchs since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the German finance ministry. The figure was €4.28 billion six months ago. The ministry shared this information in reply to a request from member of the German parliament Christian Goerke.

“Since December, only 200 million euros in oligarch assets have been frozen, and for half a year, just one billion. Not a single oligarch has reported his assets since December,” Goerke criticized.

Under Germany’s sanctions law, targets of European Union sanctions must declare their assets immediately, under penalty of a fine or up to a year in prison.

Eight oligarchs have reported 31 asset positions to the Bundesbank so far, according to government figures. The value equals about €577 million. It is distributed among account balances, company holdings and securities.

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