Italy holds seized yachts of Russian oligarchs whose assets were frozen - media
It has become a burden for the Italian authorities to maintain yachts belonging to Russian oligarchs, whose assets in Italy were frozen after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops.
According to Ukrinform, this was reported by France24.
As noted, 7 such vessels are stuck in Italian ports due to EU sanctions. All costs for inspection, repair and parking were borne by the Italian government.
According to the lawyers of the Russian owners, these vessels cannot be confiscated and resold to other owners, as the Italian authorities would like, as this is a violation of property rights, and the assets themselves have the status of frozen, but not confiscated.
The Kremlin has already promised that it will oppose in court any attempts to appropriate these assets, worth EUR 2.3bn, both in Italy and in Europe.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, after the start of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, democratic countries blocked Russian financial assets exceeding EUR 300 billion. It is believed that most of these assets are held in financial institutions in the European Union, particularly in Belgium.