Italy has frozen Russian assets worth over $ 2.6 billion after a full -scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine in 2022. According to the Italian authorities, bank accounts, villas, yachts and cars of Russian oligarchs totaling about 2.3 billion euros (more than $ 2.64 billion) have now been blocked.
As of the end of June 2023, the value of frozen assets was $ 2.5 billion. However, this month the Bank did not update the general data, although it reported that in December 2024 the amount of frozen Russian assets reached almost 280 million euros - which is 44 million euros more than in the previous year.
In addition to Russian assets, the Italian tax police arrested the property of the Iranian company Iranian Shipping Lines in Milan in June, worth more than 1 million euros. The reason was the suspicion of Russia's military support in the war against Ukraine.
All frozen because of the sanctions of the European Union, illiquid assets are under the control of the Italian state property agency. The country carries the cost of saving them during the freezing period. As of February 2024, these costs amounted to more than 31.7 million euros.
According to the EU rules, Member States can confiscate frozen assets or return them to their owners if they pay the costs of maintaining the assets incurred by the state.
Italy continues to comply with the sanctions of the European Union, aimed at pressure on Russian political and economic establishment to end the war in Ukraine.
