Bercy immobilizes goods with a vengeance. The Ministry of the Economy, via its cell specializing in the application of sanctions against the regime of Vladimir Putin, drew up, on Tuesday, April 12, an assessment of the Russian assets frozen across France in reaction to the war in Ukraine. Bank accounts, luxury villas, works of art, helicopters… The estimated value of these fixed assets is around 24 billion euros, according to the French authorities. Focus on this large-scale operation, which is not about to stop.
Assets frozen, but not seized
In France, the confiscation of assets is highly regulated, and allows many remedies. Apart from two cargo ships and a yacht, which were seized, the Russian assets cited by the Ministry of Economy were simply frozen, so that their owners could not “no longer have use of them, resell them or monetize them” detailed at the end of March the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, quoted by BFMTV. In the absence of a criminal offence, the State cannot become the owner of these assets and therefore does not have the right to rent or sell them. Still according to Bruno Le Maire, these assets freezing operations are supposed to “bad for Russia, bad for the Russian state, bad for Vladimir Putin“.
A total of 1,091 people and 80 entities are on the EU blacklist (document in English). There are members of the Russian government and administration as well as businessmen and personalities identified as supporters of Vladimir Putin. All are subject to an asset freeze, and European citizens and businesses are prohibited from transferring money to them. In addition, the persons concerned are prohibited from travel to or via EU countries.
More than 20 billion euros blocked in French accounts
In terms of value, the majority of these Russian assets are financial. It is first of all 22.8 billion euros placed by the Central Bank of Russia in French accounts. As reported The Parisian (paid item) at the beginning of March, the Ministry of the Economy called on French banks to be extremely vigilant, thus preventing attempts to repatriate these funds.
In accordance with the decision of the European Union to hunt down the oligarchs and others close to Vladimir Putin in reaction to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, 850 million euros of personal assets had already been frozen at the end of March by France. A new series “miscellaneous bank assets” has just been added to this list, specifies Bercy, for a total value of 178 million euros.
Thirty properties throughout France
Antibes, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Le Lavandou: unsurprisingly, most of the frozen properties are located on the Côte d’Azur. The Directorate General of the Public Treasury specifies that of the 33 frozen properties, 19 are civil real estate companies (SCI), which are made up of at least two people. Important information: the freeze does not prevent the owners from living in the premises (they are in any case prohibited from staying in Europe), but the latter do not have the right to rent or sell their property as long as it is frozen.
After checking the cadastre, it turns out that there are many exceptional properties on this list. Like the Château de la Croë, in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), a Victorian-style palace owned since 2004 by the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Like many others close to Vladimir Putin, the businessman was entered in the National Asset Freeze Registry on March 15, 2022. Another famous residence of Roman Abramovich, the so-called “Governor” villa, on the island of Saint-Barthélemy, in the West Indies, is also on the list of frozen properties.
In addition to seaside villas, investigators from the directorate general of the public treasury targeted mansions in Paris, located close to the National Assembly or the Elysée Palace. A hamlet and residences in Savoie and Haute-Savoie complete this list, available on the website of the Ministry of the Economy, which has also warned that a “dozen additional goods” should be added to it.
Freighters, helicopters and works of art also targeted
After having boarded two Russian yachts in March, France continues its hunt in the ports and has immobilized four freighters as well as four yachts, identified as belonging to sanctionable personalities. The value of these ships exceeds 125 million euros, according to Bercy’s estimate. Added to this are six helicopters, with a total value of approximately 60 million euros, and 7 million euros of works of art, the details of which have not been communicated.