Russia rules out asset seizures unless EU confiscates frozen funds

Moscow says it will not seize European assets but warns it could reconsider if the European Union moves to confiscate frozen Russian sovereign funds.

Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said on Wednesday that Moscow has no plans to seize European assets, including companies and banks, unless the European Union decides to confiscate frozen Russian sovereign holdings.

He noted that EU leaders have so far avoided outright confiscation while debating how to use around $250 billion in frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction. Legal and financial concerns raised by the European Central Bank and several member states have kept the proposal from advancing.

Moiseev’s comments followed speculation linking a new presidential decree on the accelerated privatisation of state assets to possible retaliatory steps. The decree, signed by President Vladimir Putin, appoints the state-controlled PSB bank as the government’s agent for property sales and shortens valuation and registration procedures.

Although the decree cites “unfriendly” actions by Western countries, Moiseev insisted it is unrelated to any plans to seize European property. He stressed that private European companies still operating in Russia remain unaffected.

Since 2022, Moscow has taken control of assets worth around $50 billion, mainly from Western firms that exited the country, marking the largest wave of property redistribution since the 1990s. Authorities say those assets will be sold swiftly to new private owners to maintain economic stability.

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