Luxembourg has frozen some 2.5 billion euro in Russian assets, mostly held in shares, bonds and bank accounts, as part of the international sanctions against Russia, its finance minister told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
The frozen funds relate to sanctions that have been imposed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February and do not consider sanctions that existed beforehand, the minister said.
“Luxembourg is playing its part in the common response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Finance Minister Yuriko Backes said on Twitter following her discussion with the parliament.
To put the number into context, Backes said Luxembourg has frozen 1.8 billion euro in Iranian assets since 2011 and approximately 3 billion euro in Libyan assets since 2006.
53 notifications issued
Luxembourg MP’s pressed Backes for information on how financial services firms are cooperating with orders to freeze assets. She said that 53 such notifications were issued and that no failures have been noted.
The finance ministry has received 106 “requests for clarification” from financial services firms seeking guidance on how to implement sanctions.
Several countries in Europe have recently reported numbers for Russian assets frozen. Germany on Tuesday said it has frozen 95 million euro up to 21 March, while the Dutch finance minister told parliament last week that the Netherlands has frozen 400 million euros, 243 million of which was held through trust offices.
France, which is actively tracking down Russian possessions such as homes and yachts, has said it has frozen some 150 million euro in assets, while Belgium’s finance ministry on 12 March said it has frozen some 10 billion euro in Russian assets.
‘Rather sobering’
Critics question the numbers reported so far. Germany’s Bürgerbewegung Finanzwende, a civil group promoting a turnaround in the financial sector, said that the amounts frozen so far are “rather sobering” and said it hopes that the German government will soon be able to announce “further successes”.
Luxembourg’s total exposure to Russia is estimated at approximately 18 to 20 billion euros, based on data from its central bank.
Related articles on Investment Officer Luxembourg: