Italy freezes Russian assets worth $2.5 billion

Italy has frozen about 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) worth of assets of Russian oligarchs since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, the country's central bank said on Tuesday.

Source. This was reported by Reuters.

Italy has seized assets, including bank accounts, luxury villas, yachts and cars, as part of the European Union's sanctions against the Kremlin and its supporters.

In its annual report, the Bank of Italy's Anti-Money Laundering Unit (UIF) stated that the €2 billion figure reflects the situation as of the end of June.

Enzo Serata, director of the Bank of Italy's anti-money laundering unit, said that the amount of frozen financial assets associated with 80 individuals amounted to about 330 million euros.

Before the war broke out in February 2022, Italy's beaches and ports were a popular playground for wealthy Russians who bought real estate in prime locations such as Lake Como, Sardinia, Tuscany, and the Ligurian coast.

Some of the sanctioned oligarchs have filed court appeals, including Russian-Uzbek metallurgical magnate Alisher Usmanov.

In April, an Italian court referred to the EU Court of Justice a decision to maintain the freeze on his assets worth more than €80 million.

Background. As a reminder, the proceeds from the sale of the Ocean Plaza shopping center in Kyiv, which belonged to the Russian oligarchs Rotenberg, will be transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.