Sanctions enforcement against Russia is slow

Enforcement of sanctions against Russian oligarchs and institutions is progressing slowly in Germany. Assets of around 5.25 billion euros are currently frozen or subject to a transaction ban. This emerges from a response from the Federal Ministry of Finance to the Left MP Christian Görke. The corresponding letter from the beginning of March was available to the Reuters news agency at the weekend.

The so-called sanction enforcement laws are not effective, criticized Görke. German investigators continued to grope in the dark.

"Since December, only a ridiculous 200 million euros in oligarch assets have been frozen, for six months it has been just one billion. Not a single oligarch has reported his assets since December.” The reporting requirement is no more than a paper tiger because it has not been extended to all companies and individuals covered by the Money Laundering Act. “Then banks and notaries would also have had to report the assets of their oligarch customers. We are now seeing the sobering result.”

As can also be seen from the government's replies, a total of 31 assets have so far been reported to the Bundesbank by eight oligarchs. The value adds up to around 577 million euros. It is divided into account balances, company investments and securities.

Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) boasted about his plan to be able to take better action with money laundering, financial crime and oligarch sanctions with a new authority - the Federal Financial Criminal Police Office, Görke told Reuters. "But that won't happen before 2025 - so it's just a dream of the future. On the other hand, answers are needed for 2023.”

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