Russia sanctions: €95,514,306.40 frozen so far

How many assets have banks in Germany frozen as part of the sanctions against Russian companies and individuals? The federal government is now giving a number for the first time – which some classify as “sobering”.

For the first time, the federal government has published a figure on how much money has been blocked in Germany so far in connection with the sanctions against Russian companies and private individuals. According to this, domestic banks froze a total of 95,514,306.40 euros by March 21. This means that the owners cannot access these funds and cannot, for example, make transfers or withdrawals.

Information for the first time

The number was raised by the Deutsche Bundesbank. The Federal Ministry of Finance informed a member of the Bundestag of the left on request. The answer lies with that ARD Capital Studio in front.

It is the first time since the sanctions came into force at the end of February that the federal government has provided information about frozen assets. So far, the responsible ministries and the Bundesbank have not answered inquiries about this. Even now, the answer says that further “details, including operational findings, cannot be disclosed.”

France calls a sum of 850 million euros

In other countries, governments are sometimes more open about information about confiscated and frozen assets related to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. France’s Economics Minister Bruno Le Maire, for example, said in an interview a week ago that his country had already committed around 850 million euros. 150 million euros of this was frozen in accounts, the remaining millions relate to confiscated yachts and blocked real estate.

Assets worth hundreds of millions of euros have also been confiscated in Italy. According to media reports, in Belgium it should already be around ten billion.

“rather sobering”

In comparison, the approximately 95 million euros in Germany are “rather sobering,” says Konrad Duffy from the independent interest group “Bürgerbewegung Finanzwende”. In any case, it can be assumed that there are more assets from sanctioned persons from Russia in Germany.

At the same time, Duffy emphasizes that the number only reflects what the banks have reported. The real owners of yachts, real estate or works of art are often disguised with shell companies. He hopes that there will not only be “a number from the Bundesbank”, but that the federal government will soon be able to announce “further successes” in relation to such assets.

Left-wing member of the Bundestag Pascal Meiser wanted to know from the federal government how high the total assets of sanctioned persons and companies in Germany are. So the question does not only refer to bank accounts, but also to real estate, cars or yachts, for example. The deputy also wanted to know what had already been frozen or confiscated.

The government does not want to give any details

With the exception of the number from the Bundesbank, the federal government does not want to publish any information on this. In the answer to the MPs, the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Florian Toncar, said: “After careful consideration, the Federal Government has come to the conclusion that the information requested is in such need of protection that even a slight risk of becoming known in view of the potential damage is not can be accepted.”

Even a “deposit of the requested information in the secret protection agency of the German Bundestag” is therefore out of the question, according to FDP politician Toncar. If the information became known, the success of “the sanctions measures decided within the European framework would be specifically endangered.”

Left-wing politician Meiser is not convinced by this argument. To the ARD Capital Studio he said that as a member of the Bundestag he needed more information about the assets of sanctioned individuals and companies in Germany. “Either the federal government is stonewalling because it can’t disclose the information, or it’s stonewalling it because it doesn’t have it.” The latter would be a disaster, according to Meiser.

Task force so far without results

Since the sanctions came into force, there has been repeated criticism that, in particular against sanctioned oligarchs in Germany, no decision is taken or action taken quickly enough. That is probably one of the reasons why the federal government set up a task force in mid-March to implement the sanctions. This working group has the task of coordinating the work of numerous ministries and authorities involved in the implementation of the sanctions in Germany. Originally, the Federal Chancellery was supposed to play a central role.

Since then, according to information from ARD Capital Studios changed management several times. The Federal Government left questions about this unanswered. The Federal Ministry of Economics and the Federal Ministry of Finance are now responsible. Both ministries recently announced that the task force had started work, but so far have not reported any results.