The prospect of Russia seizing EU assets
Experts say Russia has the right to confiscate EU assets if the union confiscates Russian assets to pay off debt to Ukraine.
According to RIA Novosti, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Civil Law at Plekhanov Russian University, Sergei Levchuk, said that Russia will have the right to respond with similar measures to the European Union (EU), if this union decides to use the money obtained from Russia's frozen assets to repay the loan to Ukraine.
Earlier on October 15, a senior European source told reporters that EU leaders at the October 17-18 summit in Brussels will discuss a $50 billion loan to Kiev, which will be repaid from proceeds from frozen Russian assets, and extending commitments to help Ukraine.
According to the generally accepted norms and principles of international law, all financial transactions with Russian sovereign assets without the participation of Russia are illegal. Therefore, Russia will seize a similar amount of financial assets of Western countries in response to the actions of the European Parliament, expert Levchuk said.
The expert noted that the option of confiscating Russian assets through sanctions “requires the consent of the UN Security Council”. At the same time, Moscow’s appeal to the international court is legal. However, decisions on the complaint require taking into account similar appeals from the EU.
“Given that Russia cannot avoid freezing Western funds in the amount of $288 billion, when they seize Russian assets. The protests are legal, which opens up the possibility of requests for goodwill coordination by all parties. This is impossible under the conditions of Western sanctions policy,” Levchuk said.
RIA Novosti estimates that a similar reaction by Moscow to Western countries seeking to seize the assets of the Central Bank of Russia could cost it at least $288 billion. According to the latest available data, this is the volume of direct investments by the EU, G7, Australia and Switzerland in the Russian economy by the end of 2022. Moreover, taking into account the ban on withdrawals from Russia by unfriendly residents, the amount may have increased significantly due to the transfer of these funds to type “C” accounts.
