French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told RTL radio today that France has frozen €22 billion worth of Bank of Russia funds, reported TASS. “We have frozen the assets of the Russian Central Bank worth €22 billion. We have also frozen funds on accounts of individuals in French enterprises worth €150 million,” he said. Private properties worth some €500 million, owned by around 30 Russians, have also been frozen on French territory, as have two yachts, worth an estimated €150 million combined.
“Since we established a center that unites the efforts of hundreds of employees of the TRACFIN financial intelligence service, the treasury, customs and the Public Finances Directorate for the first time in the history of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, we have managed to unveil and freeze the assets of Russian tycoons totally worth €1.8 billion on French territory apart from the Russian Central Bank’s €22 billion,” TASS quoted Le Maire as saying. The private properties are not seized by the French government; they remain the property of the owners, who, however, cannot resell or use the assets to make profit.
