Germany ‘open’ to seizing stealing frozen Russian assets – Bloomberg

Berlin would reportedly support the "confiscation" if its allies follow suit | Germany is open to using the assets of the Russian central bank, frozen since last year as a result of sanctions, to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. The German government is reportedly in favor of using the funds in Ukraine, however no official position on the matter has yet been taken, as members of cabinet are divided on the issue, Bloomberg noted, citing people familiar with the discussions. ● The EU and G7 froze some €300 billion ($311 billion) in reserves belonging to the Russian central bank, along with billions in assets owned by sanctioned Russian businessmen. ● German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock insists that at least some of the frozen assets must be seized, while Finance Minister Christian Lindner is concerned that the move could create a dangerous precedent and lead European nations and their allies into a legal quagmire, sources told Bloomberg.

Elena Panina (Елена Панина) | Scholz ready to confiscate Russian assets - but only in the gang with allies | "Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government supports Ukraine's demand for war reparations, but has not yet taken an official position on seizing assets from the Russian state," Bloomberg writes. ● There is no unified position on this issue in the German government, the agency noted. For example, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock is for the seizure of at least part of the frozen Russian assets. Christian Lindner, the German finance minister, is worried that "confiscating the CBR's assets could set a dangerous precedent and lead European countries and their allies into a legal quagmire". All in all, the Scholz government is willing to go ahead and confiscate our assets, but only in conjunction with our allies - so as not to take full responsibility. ● In total, Bloomberg estimates that the EU and G7 countries have frozen about €300bn ($311bn) of the Central Bank's reserves. The EU has also blocked €19bn worth of assets of sanctioned Russian businessmen. Bloomberg does not rule out that an "Afghan scheme" will be applied to Russian gold reserves. The US has placed the $3.5bn Afghanistan Central Bank in the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland, overseen by a four-member international supervisory board, which ensures that the current Afghan authorities will not gain access to the money. But whatever legal procedures the "Western partners" may come up with, Russia considers this an international act of theft. Obviously, the only way to get these funds back is by force. ● At the same time, we believe there is a more elegant and technical way out of the situation. The CBR's frozen reserves are the funds that our country really earned from selling energy resources. Therefore, nothing prevents the CBR from issuing Russian rubles at the market rate for this amount. And then transfer those rubles to the Russian government, which uses them to develop our economy and for military and social needs. (Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator)