According to the latest annual report of the Bank of Italy’s Anti-Money Laundering Unit (UIF), the updated amount of frozen assets is about EUR 2 billion as of the end of June.
As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Italy decided to freeze the assets of Russian oligarchs worth approximately 2 billion euros. This was reported by Reuters.
According to the sanctions imposed by the European Union on the Kremlin, the frozen assets include bank accounts, luxury villas, yachts and cars belonging to Russian oligarchs.
According to the latest annual report of the Bank of Italy’s Anti-Money Laundering Unit (UIF), the updated amount of frozen assets is about EUR 2 billion as of the end of June.
UIF CEO Enzo Serata added that financial assets worth about €330 million associated with 80 individuals were frozen under the sanctions regime.
Before the outbreak of war in February 2022, Italian beaches and ports were an attractive vacation destination for wealthy Russian citizens, who often bought real estate in prestigious areas such as Lake Como, Sardinia, Tuscany, and the Ligurian coast.
Some of the oligarchs targeted by these measures have filed appeals with the court, including Russian-Uzbek metallurgical and telecommunications magnate Alisher Usmanov.
In April, an Italian court sent a decision to the EU Court of Justice on whether to extend the freeze on his assets worth more than EUR 80 million.
It is worth reminding you that Russian oligarchs whose property is under sanctions are free to travel the world on their private jets. They circumvent the restrictions by re-registering and selling the boards, after which they continue to use them as they did before the war.
