President Putin signed a decree opening the way for retaliation against the West,
Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 23 signed a decree on the identification of US assets, including securities, that can be used to compensate for losses caused by any confiscation of US assets. Russia is blockaded in the US.
President Putin signed a decree opening the way for retaliation against the West, outlining the process for confiscating US assets. (Source: TASS) The decree allows the Russian government commission in charge of selling foreign assets to identify the assets involved, and specifies compensation decisions to be made in court.
Russian assets are frozen: Germany 'fires the first shot' transferring money to Ukraine, the West agrees, does it leave a 'forbidden zone'? According to the decree, in addition to securities, real estate, movable assets and private property rights can also be confiscated.
Mr. Putin signed a decree outlining the process of confiscating frozen US assets in Russia to compensate for damage caused by sanctions from the West.
"US assets in Russia may be confiscated to compensate for damages to the Russian government or central bank," according to the content of the decree published on the Russian Government Information Portal today.
Russian companies can also file a petition asking the court to determine whether their assets were unjustly confiscated by the US and seek compensation. The court then ordered compensation in the form of US assets from a list established by the government commission on foreign investment control.
The decree lists assets that can be confiscated as shares and securities held by American investors in Russian companies, real estate, and intellectual property rights. "The Government of the Russian Federation within 4 months should ensure the introduction of legal changes to implement this decree," according to the content of the decree.
The move comes in the context that G7 countries are considering using frozen Russian assets abroad to aid Ukraine. Accordingly, finance ministers and central bank governors of the G7 Group, including the US, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Italy and Canada, will gather in the town of Stresa, Italy for two days, January 24-25. 5.
G7 negotiators have been discussing for weeks how best to leverage Russia's frozen assets such as major currencies and government bonds, worth about $300 billion. after Russia conducted a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
The US is pushing to find ways to leverage future income from those assets, through issuing bonds or, more likely, granting Ukraine loans of up to $50 billion in the short term.
However, several officials said many legal and technical aspects needed to be resolved, meaning a detailed agreement was not expected to be reached in Stresa. In that case, informal talks will continue to present a proposal to G7 leaders at a meeting in Puglia, southern Italy, on June 13-15.
