The Finnish authorities have frozen assets worth more than 80 million euros due to sanctions imposed on Russia, Helsingin Sanomat said on Sunday.
The property was owned by Russian individuals and entities subject to EU sanctions following an attack on Ukraine almost three months ago.
More than 1,000 individuals and 80 communities have been frozen "whereas their actions have undermined Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence," says the European Council.
Possibly the most expensive products that have not yet been evaluated
According to the newspaper, the authorities have already assessed the value of most frozen assets, but goods still priced are likely to be more valuable on average than other goods.
Ice properties include the Rotenberg family, which previously owned large holdings in the Jokerie hockey team and the Helsinki Arena. The confiscated property includes a € 8 million villa in southern Hanko. It is owned by Boris Rotenbergan industrialist and a close partner of the president Vladimir Putin who has had a Finnish passport since 2002. He was eligible because his former app was an Ingrian Finn.
In March, customs authorities announced that they had blocked 21 Russian-owned luxury yachts from leaving Finland.
EUR 44 million worth of iron, 1,000 train cars
Large deliveries of raw materials have also been seized. For example, iron ore pellets worth up to EUR 44 million are stored in the Kokkola port area on the west coast of Finland. In March, the EU banned all imports of iron and steel products from Russia and Belarus. The acetic acid in the Kotka company’s warehouse has also been frozen to the value of approximately EUR 1.4 million.
More than 1,000 Russian freight wagons have been seized by the Authority. It estimates that wagons and their contents could be worth tens of millions of euros.
Wagons shall be kept in secret places on sidings and yards to prevent tampering and vandalism, Eljas KoistinenCommercial director of VR Transpoint, told the newspaper.
The confiscated wagons take about 20 kilometers of track. Russian freight trains traveling through Finland were about a kilometer long.
The state railway operator VR caused confusion in the early stages of the war by first banning Russian freight trains and then allowing it again for some time before re-closing them.
Source: The Nordic Page