We continue to investigate the process of confiscation of Russian assets in Ukraine and around the world

Here is our round-up of the most significant developments this week:

• The World Bank has increased its estimate of Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction needs to at least $411 billion. This figure is 2.6 times Ukraine's projected GDP for 2022. The WB assessment also found that the invasion pushed 7.1 million people into poverty and set the country back 15 years in development progress.
• Ukraine is seeking an international agreement to transfer frozen Russian assets for reconstruction. Ukraine's Deputy Justice Minister Iryna Mudra expressed hope that an international mechanism for compensation to Ukraine will be established within a year, and an agreement on the creation of an international register of losses will be presented in May and signed by foreign partners by early June.
• Moldova is preparing sanctions against about 25 people in connection with Russia's war against Ukraine. Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said that in early March, the EU called on Chisinau to join the personal sanctions imposed by the EU in connection with Russia's war against Ukraine and human rights violations.
• A Russian cargo ship Smew was detained in the Finnish port of Kotka, which was supposed to transport fertilisers to the company of a sanctioned Russian oligarch. The cargo ship was to load fertilizers produced by a company owned by a Russian oligarch on the EU sanctions list. It has not been officially disclosed which oligarch this is.

More information on the situation with the confiscation of Russian assets can be found on our confiscation tracker, an interactive website that displays up-to-date information on amounts, legislation, court decisions, and political positions of countries on confiscation.