Putin wants to release frozen assets
Following the attack on Ukraine, the West imposes massive sanctions against Russia. Moscow responds with counter-sanctions. Putin has now issued a decree allowing citizens to exchange their assets frozen abroad for money from investors seized in Russia. Whether this will work is unclear.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that allows Russian assets frozen abroad to be exchanged for foreign assets frozen in Russia. According to the decree, Russians can exchange frozen assets abroad up to a value of 100,000 roubles (around 1,000 euros) via a voluntary mechanism using funds from accounts with assets of foreign investors and companies frozen in Russia.
The latter are held in so-called type C accounts. The holder of the type C account, usually a foreign company, can then receive the foreign shares that the Russian investor previously held abroad. However, there is no guarantee that the foreign clearing houses handling the exchange, such as Euroclear and Clearstream, will cooperate.
Since the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries have imposed numerous sanctions against Russia. Russian banks have been blocked from international payment transactions and Russian assets abroad have been frozen. According to the Kremlin, the equivalent of more than 15 billion euros in foreign investments by Russian citizens abroad have been blocked. In response, Moscow froze some assets of foreign investors and companies in Russia in type C accounts.
Uniper, Danone and Carlsberg expropriated
Numerous companies from Western countries have withdrawn from Russia or sold their assets there since the start of the Ukraine conflict in order to avoid sanctions. The Kremlin has created obstacles for foreign companies to make money from their sales. In some cases, it subjected the companies to state control.
For example, Russia took control of the Russian subsidiaries of the German company Uniper and the Finnish group Fortum. The Russian subsidiaries of the French yoghurt manufacturer Danone and the beer company Carlsberg were also affected.
In response to the sanctions imposed by the West following the Attack on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin allows Russians to exchange frozen assets abroad for money from seized foreign investors' accounts within Russia. The Kremlin's move includes expropriating companies like Uniper, Danone, and Carlsberg in Russia due to Western sanctions and nationalizing their subsidiaries.
Source: www.ntv.de
