By TALLINN. Nov 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Estonian authorities, together with the European Union, are discussing the possibility of using the frozen Russian property in favor of Ukraine amid the escalation of Russian military aggression, assets related to the Russian Federation worth tens of millions of euros have been frozen in the republic, the Estonian portal ERR writes.
More than 90% of the assets frozen in Estonia are associated with two Russian businessmen – Andrey Melnichenko and Vyacheslav Kantor, ERR clarifies.
The former was previously the beneficiary of EuroChem, which operates mainly in Sillamäe, while the latter previously controlled Acron Group, which includes DBT in Muuga. They also have a large number of affiliated companies.
"It is almost impossible to calculate the exact value of the frozen assets. In particular, the funds are frozen in credit institutions, financial institutions, and bank accounts. We are talking about nearly EUR 11.7 million. The second point is the funds in the frozen prepayment accounts at the Tax and Customs Board. There we are talking about EUR 8.4 million," Laura Aus, head of the International Financial Sanctions and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Department of the Money Laundering Data Bureau, told the portal.
"The sum is constantly changing. For example, companies can spend frozen assets to pay for safe storage of frozen property, such as chemicals. It is even harder to calculate the total value of frozen property, tangible things," Aus suggested.
The Estonian Tax and Customs Board has carried out over 35,000 checks when enforcing sanctions and found violations in 1,300 cases. For example, violations relate to attempts to export cash euros to Russia (banned by the European Commission), expensive electronics, etc. Many goods are returned, but quite a few remain in storage or are confiscated.
The decision to use the frozen Russian assets has not been made, but the West is again discussing whether part of these funds can be used to compensate for the damage to Ukraine caused by the aggressor country Russia as a result of shelling of its infrastructure, Estonian experts explained to the publication.
Head of the customs department of the Tax and Customs Board Eerika Heldna, said that such decisions would in any case be taken by Estonia jointly with other EU member states, since the sanctions policy pursued by the Estonian state is part of the EU sanctions imposed in response to the unleashed Russian full-scale war against Ukraine.
