Private assets have been frozen in the EU

Due to the invasion of Ukraine, the European Union imposed sanctions against Russia. These sanctions targeted thousands of individuals and companies directly responsible for starting and waging the war. However, along with them, the assets of millions of non-sanctioned private individuals were blocked — among them many people who oppose the war, including those who have left Russia.

Today, there is a mechanism for private individuals to unlock their assets, but it is a lengthy and costly process, available only to very wealthy investors. Such secondary sanctions, imposed against clients of the Russian financial system, are not only useless — they cause serious damage to the image of the European Union, which has always been seen as a community founded on the rule of law and the protection of private property.

Voices of those affected

I have frozen assets abroad. Not much, about $4,000, mostly in US shares. I don't support the war and Putin at all, on the contrary. Overall, I understand the EU institutions, but it's disappointing.

Alexey, Russia

The asset freeze is quite understandable and justified. It is a pity that the blocking procedure did not initially include a mechanism for its cancellation, for persons who do not support the war, the current regime and any ties with persons included in the US and EU sanctions lists.

Andrey, Russia

This is a war, and I turned out to be a citizen of an aggressor country, that's clear. However, such an illegible attitude towards all holders of a Russian passport cannot but cause bitterness and disappointment.

Elena, Finland

So far, there is a feeling that the EU has an attitude towards the Declaration on the Protection of Human Rights (art.” Property protection”), to the Belgian Constitution (Article 16) is about the same as in the Russian Federation to the Constitution: a theoretically beautiful document, but ignored in practice if it is convenient for officials. Big officials hurriedly made some mistakes in 2022 that took the innocent people's property away; instead of admitting and correcting their mistakes, they hid them in a small, inefficient and non-public department of the Treasury, and chose to forget about the victims of the mistakes.

Nikolay, Andorra

I'm one of the victims of frozen assets. I had shares in German companies purchased through Tinkoff Investments. At the moment, they cost about 20,000 euros. After the war started, I left Russia and I oppose military actions and the Russian authorities!

Alexey, Germany

My assets have been frozen due to sanctions. More than 1 million rubles are frozen. I am so against the war that I changed my citizenship to Ukrainian and moved to Ukraine. Sanctions against the State are necessary, but how responsible should I be for the actions of the country's crazy leader?

Irina, Ukraine

All Russians were blocked only because they had a Russian passport. Regardless of their political sympathies and their attitude towards the war with Ukraine.
But at the same time, the EU still continues to trade with Russia and buy raw materials.
What European values can we talk about in this case? Or do these values work for EU citizens, but not for citizens of other states?
Hypocrisy and double standards.

Edward, Russia

Thank you very much for thinking about this problem; your arguments are absolutely fair. Like many others, I really support the same values and live in the same media space, which doesn't prevent us from looking sadly at the money hanging in the air while staying in Russia.

Gregory, Russia

I'm one of those 5 million affected investors. Many sanctions have hurt immigrants and refugees from Russia more than the regime. On the contrary, Russians loyal to Putin were also happy about all our problems.

Valery, Portugal

I am retired and these are my pension savings. I have always supported democratic reforms in our country; I can say that I am a product of the 90s and 2000s.

Irina, Russia

I am very glad that someone drew attention to the problem of frozen assets of ordinary people, especially those who left the Russian Federation because of their anti-war position. I'm one of those ordinary people who had (and still have) a small brokerage account with a Russian brokerage service and tried to save in the form of shares and ETFs, primarily denominated in foreign currencies. I didn't even know in my head that this freeze was due specifically to EU sanctions. In my opinion, this was not the biggest tragedy and loss. I rather saw it as an inevitable evil attached to all the other monstrous actions of the Putin regime. I've been living in Europe for a long time, but I haven't started using the investment opportunities offered by European brokers again, as I have already lost my hard-earned money, albeit not cosmic.

Yuri, Germany

My husband and I are 2 programmers who did not find themselves on the European labor market, as all our experience on the Russian platform is not relevant there. I had to settle in my homeland in Moldova. We have about 15,000 euros frozen, which is a ridiculous amount, but despite the fact that I, in addition to Russian citizenship, also have Moldovan citizenship, I am unable to return my investment. This is a significant amount of money for us, taking into account the fact that emigration cost us dearly.

Natalya, Moldova

I think that legislative overkill plays into the hands of the Russian Federation in relation to those who have left. At least as propaganda material.

Sergey, Georgia

I understand (the EU's actions — note), but I would still like to see some steps from European regulators and options for asset holders that would help speed up the unfreezing.

Egor, Israel

On the one hand, the reaction to freeze assets is understandable “in a broad sense”, however, the initial data has not been filtered in three years, and the issue of private (small) investments has not been taken into account. Overall, the level of trust in European institutions is close to zero.

Ella, Israel

I still consider them (sanctions — note) to be fair and correct. Of course, it's a shame that this happened. But probably protecting Ukraine deserves any measures; we are not suffering as much as they do. If they can collect public funds to compensate Ukraine, it will be great.

Anna, Russia

If asset freezes were effective in stopping the war, I would accept the inconvenience. But in fact, there is no effect, but there are inconveniences, so the EU institutions have proved to be ineffective in this regard.

Ilya, Russia

I've been living outside Russia for a long time and I don't understand why these restrictions were imposed on me. I clearly didn't deserve it in any way, especially since, apparently, these restrictions were imposed on many ordinary investors (not under sanctions) simply because no one wanted to know who exactly was being punished.

Eugene, UAE

On the one hand, I understand the desire to punish the aggressor, but, on the other hand, it is not clear why ordinary people who earn their money by honest work, have nothing to do with the state authorities and do not belong to big businesses should suffer. It turns out that ordinary people suffer the most from the situation, because the conditionally rich already have a way to roll back, cut off, and get around.

Maria, Russia

Hitting everyone with a baton without trying to figure it out, with the introduction of an extremely complicated and expensive licensing mechanism to unlock papers, is not what you expect from a society that seems to be built on human rights.

Valentin, United States

The EU is cynical as a last resort, because they know very well whose money (assets) they have frozen. This includes, in addition to the sovereign assets of the Russian Federation.

Kirill, Spain

There are no defrosting mechanisms. There are also many restrictions on opening an account in an EU country, which is a prerequisite in many immigration programs. Thus, the right to obtain a residence permit in the EU countries has not been exercised.

Denis, Serbia

Manifesto

Zhanna Nemtsova

Due to the invasion of Ukraine, the European Union imposed sanctions against Russia. These sanctions targeted thousands of individuals and companies genuinely responsible for initiating and conducting the war. However, along with them, the securities of millions of private individuals not under sanctions were blocked—because of restrictions imposed on major Russian banks, the National Settlement Depository, and the SPB Exchange. Among the affected are many people who hold anti-war views, including those who have left Russia. I have personally spoken with more than a hundred such people—from a statistics professor at a leading U.S. university to retirees from Russian regions. I want to thank each person who wrote to me and shared their story.

In the more than three years since the war began, there have been no serious efforts to determine who the ultimate beneficiaries of the frozen assets are. Specifically, no attempts to distinguish between state and private assets or to establish what portion of private assets belong to sanctioned individuals or their representatives, and what portion to people who are not under sanctions by Western countries and can prove the legal origin of their capital.

Today, there is a mechanism in place for non-sanctioned private individuals to request asset unfreezing, but the process is long and expensive—accessible only to very wealthy investors. These kinds of secondary sanctions imposed on clients of the Russian financial system are not just ineffective—they seriously damage the EU’s image, which has always been perceived as a union based on the rule of law and the protection of private property.

Let me clarify that my efforts are not lobbying and are not funded by anyone. I act solely out of my conviction: those responsible should be punished. People not involved in the war in Ukraine who have earned their money legally should have access to a transparent and accessible mechanism to unlock their assets. Moreover, EU regulatory bodies, as well as custodians like Euroclear and Clearstream where these assets are held, must ensure transparency in their operations—instead of hiding behind obscure internal regulations and the “complexity of sanctions policy” as excuses for ignoring inquiries from the media and civil society organizations.

I believe that we must begin inventorying these assets now and work toward a solution that is optimal for all parties involved. That is why we created this page—to publish the results of our efforts and the stories of those affected.

You can contact us through the feedback form available on this page. The more testimonies we collect about the scale of this issue, the greater the chances of prompting the EU authorities to make changes in their sanctions policy!

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January 1, 2025 at 11:12

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