The Institute of Legislative Ideas presents a new research ‘Confiscation of assets of persons responsible for Russian aggression against Ukraine’

Since the beginning of the war, more than 12 million Ukrainians have lost their homes, and the actual number of killed and wounded Ukrainians reaches tens of thousands. The direct losses to the economy are at least USD 127 billion.

Who should pay for this? And how can we influence those whose money continues to kill Ukrainians today?

Ukraine's allies, as always, have imposed numerous personal sanctions against Russia's political leadership and its ‘wallets’. BUT, temporary travel bans and worldwide asset freezes (about $100 billion) have failed to influence the behaviour of those responsible for the war. The Russian army continues to kill and terrorise Ukrainians every day.

Therefore, the next step should be the irrevocable confiscation of the assets of such persons.

The Institute of Legislative Ideas has prepared a new analytical study ‘Confiscation of Assets of Persons Responsible for the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine’. And here is the most important thing:

Hundreds of billions of US dollars worth of Russian assets have been frozen around the world. For example, Belgium has already blocked $50.5 billion of private Russian assets, the UK - $20 billion, Switzerland - $6.8 billion, Germany - $4.67 billion, Poland - $2.7 billion, Italy - $1.7 billion, and France - $1.2 billion.

 After the imposition of traditional sanctions, since 2014, those responsible for Russian aggression have not been held personally accountable. They continue to increase their wealth and assets. For example, one of Putin's favourite oligarchs, Gennadiy Timchenko, doubled his wealth by more than $10 billion between 2015 and 2021.

 Therefore, new means of influencing their behaviour are needed to stop the war and raise funds for Ukraine's reconstruction. Confiscation of private assets of such individuals could be an effective mechanism. After a while, the share of blocked private assets could reach 30% or even 50% of the Russian central bank's reserves.

 So far, only Ukraine and Canada have adopted legislation on the confiscation of private assets. The Ukrainian court has already issued the first decision (!) to confiscate the assets of Russian oligarch and arms manufacturer Vladimir Yevtushenkov (worth USD 3.4 billion). This practice may become an example for other countries.

 The introduction of such confiscation could become a deterrent mechanism that could prevent further wars in the world. First of all, because supporting such decisions can lead to the loss of all wealth. At the same time, such confiscation must be legally impeccable and in line with international human rights practice, so that Russian aggressors and their accomplices cannot win back the confiscated property in courts.

Read more in our research.