Estonia freezes Russian assets worth tens of millions of euros

Estonia has frozen assets worth tens of millions of euros related to the Russian Federation and is discussing with the EU the possibility of using the frozen Russian property in favor of Ukraine, Laura Aus, head of the International Financial Sanctions and Terrorist Financing Prevention Department of the Money Laundering Data Bureau, told the ERR portal.

“It is almost impossible to calculate the exact value of the frozen assets. In particular, the funds are frozen in credit institutions, financial institutions, bank accounts. There we are talking about 11.7 million euros. The second item is the funds in the frozen prepayment accounts at the Tax and Customs Board. There we are talking about 8.4 million,” she said.

The amount of frozen assets is constantly changing, notes Aus. For example, companies can use frozen funds to pay for the costs necessary to ensure the safe storage of “frozen” goods such as chemicals. It is even more difficult to estimate the value of the assets of the enterprise in the aggregate.

The Estonian Tax and Customs Board has conducted more than 35,000 checks to monitor compliance with the sanctions regime, and nearly 1,300 violations have been identified. Violations relate, in particular, 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.

Discussions are ongoing as to whether some of these funds can be used to compensate for the damage to Ukraine caused by the hostilities. The 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 Estonia’s sanctions policy is part of the EU sanctions.