Putin signs decree on retaliatory measures should Russian assets be frozen in foreign states

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on retaliatory measures in the event of seizure or restriction of rights to Russian assets abroad.

Such measures are necessary to counter illegal actions that the United States and other countries take against Russian companies and citizens.

According to the decree, assets of unfriendly countries in Russia shall be subjected to external management should Russia's rights for its assets in foreign countries be either seized or restricted.

At the same time, the head of Russia may terminate temporary asset management, the decree specifies.

According to the document, the list of foreign assets that are subject to transfer to temporary management includes shareholders' interests in Unipro and Fortum.

Reference:

• Unipro PJSC is the most efficient company of the thermal power generation sector in the Russian Federation. Unipro PJSC consists of five heat power plants with the total capacity of 11,245.1 MW.
• Fortum is an energy company committed to enabling energy evolution towards a cleaner world. The corporation's main activities are concentrated in the Nordic countries and include CO2-free electricity generation, electricity distribution, district heating, and waste recycling and disposal.

Meanwhile, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the US Treasury considers a possibility to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. Washington is negotiating this issue with its allies, she said.

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said that the Ministry of Justice was given new powers to use the assets that had been confiscated from Russian oligarchs to restore Ukraine.

However, the US Treasury Secretary admitted that there are serious legal obstacles to confiscate frozen Russian assets. There were no difficulties with seizing them on a small scale, but problem would definitely arise in case of large confiscations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cast doubts on the plans to legalise the confiscation of the Russian assets. In his opinion, this plan is "doomed to fail." However, there are still chances for the US to convince the EU to use the Russian assets for the restoration of Ukraine. Such a move may create significant problems for world economy.