Putin allowed the confiscation of US and American property in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has authorized the seizure and confiscation of property of the United States, American citizens, residents, companies operating primarily in the American market, and companies owned by them to pay compensation for confiscated Russian assets. The decree was published on the official portal of legal acts.

The decree allows Russian companies and individuals to apply to Russian courts to declare the seizure of property ordered by courts or government agencies in the United States as unjustified.

If a Russian court finds that the confiscation was unjustified, a special government commission must offer US-related assets found in Russia for compensation.

Putin’s decree allows for the seizure of real estate, securities, shares in Russian companies, and property rights in Russia belonging to the United States or American residents and citizens.

The document states that it was drawn up in connection with “unfriendly and contrary to international law” US actions against Russia and the Russian Central Bank.

On April 24, US President Joe Biden signed a law passed by both houses of the US Congress on the allocation of a new package of military assistance to Ukraine. One of the clauses of the bill allows for the arrest and confiscation in favor of Ukraine of Russian state assets subject to US jurisdiction.

In December 2022, the Senate authorized the use of assets confiscated from Russian oligarchs for violating American law to help Ukraine (the document was also signed by Biden on April 24).

The authors of the amendments have repeatedly stated that Moscow must pay for aggression against Ukraine, including by paying for its restoration. As of February, damage from the war was estimated at $486 billion.

• Bank of Russia assets in the United States, as in other Western countries, were frozen in the first days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. At the same time, a smaller part of these funds is frozen in the United States, and a significantly larger part is frozen in the EU countries. The US and its allies are discussing whether a legal mechanism can be found to confiscate these funds. At the moment no decision has been made on this. The European Union has only agreed on a plan for using the income from these assets for Ukraine’s needs.
• In January 2022, RIA Novosti wrote that there are $288 billion of assets of Western companies in Russia. Most of these funds come from Cyprus and the Netherlands; it can be assumed that the final beneficiaries of some of the companies are Russian citizens. Russian Finance Minister Andrei Siluanov argued at the beginning of 2024 that there are no fewer Western assets in Russia than Russian ones in the West.