Ukraine, Latvia drafting agreement on confiscation of Russia’s state property abroad

Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denys Malyuska and Minister of Justice of Latvia Jānis Bordāns have started to draft jointly an agreement on the confiscation of Russian state property abroad.

The ministers made a corresponding announcement at a joint press conference on the sidelines of the Riga Justice Leaders Forum, Ukrinform reports with reference to a publication of the Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia on Facebook.

According to Malyuska, the state gold and foreign exchange reserves of the aggressor country worth more than EUR 300 billion are currently kept in the Western countries. The main obstacle to the confiscation of these funds for the benefit of Ukrainian private and legal entities affected by Russian aggression is the principle of immunity of state property.

"After thorough work with leading international lawyers, we found a way to overcome this limitation by concluding an appropriate multilateral agreement, or a series of bilateral agreements. I am grateful to friendly Latvia for its willingness to become the first country with which we begin to draft such an agreement," said the Minister of Justice of Ukraine.

He also expressed the hope that this step would help to quickly involve many other countries in which Russian funds are stored and which hesitate to make a decision on their confiscation for the benefit of the victims of the Russian war.

Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denys Malyuska makes a working visit to Riga on July 12-15.

Photo credit: Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Latvia, Facebook

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