Moscow/Prague, November 15 – The Czech government has approved the freezing of Russian state assets in the country, according to Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavsky’s announcement on social media. Lipavsky stated, “Today (Wednesday), at my proposal, the government approved the freezing of Russian state assets in the Czech Republic.” Czech authorities have supported the inclusion of the company managing Russian assets abroad, the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Goszagransobstvennost,” in the national sanctions list. Lipavsky’s words, as quoted by the CTK news agency, reveal that the company manages various real estate properties in the Czech Republic that belong to Russia. He stated, “All commercial activities of ‘Goszagransobstvennost,’ including leasing, are now illegal. Inclusion in the sanctions list will lead to the freezing of all assets owned by the company in the Czech Republic or controlled by it in any other way.” The company is directly subordinate to the Russian President’s Administration and handles the country’s assets abroad, added the Czech Minister. Since the start of the special operation, the West has increased its sanctions pressure on Moscow, freezing Russian assets worth billions of dollars. Approximately 200 billion euros are held in the EU, mostly in the accounts of Belgian Euroclear — one of the largest clearing and settlement systems in the world. In October of last year, European leaders instructed the European Commission to prepare proposals for using the frozen funds to finance the recovery of Ukraine, but no proposals on this matter have been received yet. Vice-President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, stated on November 9 that the European Union is trying to reach an agreement on financing for the former Soviet republic for 2024 and subsequent years, therefore considering immobilized Russian sovereign assets in Europe as a potential source of income. However, Bloomberg reported, citing informed sources, that France, Germany, Italy, and Belgium are wary of attempts to expedite this process. Additionally, last week, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing for the exchange of a portion of the blocked funds of foreign investors within the country for frozen Russian assets. According to the document, the exchange pertains to securities owned by a single resident, up to a sum of 100,000 rubles. The transactions must be conducted through trading.
