European Commission freezes Russian assets worth 21.5 bln euros

BRUSSELS. Feb 17 (Interfax) - The European Commission has frozen Russian assets in Europe worth 21.5 billion euros, is working to block other assets, including those of the Russian Central Bank, and is looking for legal ways towards possible confiscation of certain assets, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said.

"We have had the opportunity to freeze 21.5 billion euros of assets from Russian oligarchs and entities on the sanctions list. We will continue to work on different kind of assets like the reserves of the Central Bank of Russia," Reynders said on Friday after the first in-person meeting of the European Commission's ad hoc group on use of frozen assets.

The European Union was drafting a guideline on stricter penalty for circumventing sanctions, he said.

This is a phased process, which does not rule out confiscation of assets linked to criminal offenses, he said.

The first step is to block or freeze assets, and the second step begins the confiscation process in the event of criminal offenses, Reynders said. The EU is working together with G7, and Switzerland is mostly operating in the same vein, he said.