RUSSIA: On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree giving temporary control over the Russian assets of two multinational energy corporations, signalling that Moscow may, if necessary, take similar action against other businesses.
The decree, which outlines potential reprisal in the event that Russian assets overseas are seized, revealed that Moscow had already taken action against the assets of Finland’s Fortum Oyj (FORTUM.HE) and the Russian business of Uniper SE (UN01.DE).
The decree stated that Russia needed to act quickly in response to conduct that it deemed to be “unfriendly and against international law” by the United States and other countries.
According to the directive, the federal government property agency Rosimushchestvo has been given temporary management over the interests in the two firms.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated in February that Russia should pay for the harm its war on Ukraine caused, despite the fact that there were “significant legal obstacles” to seizing large frozen Russian assets.
On Monday, the CEO of the state-owned bank VTB PAO (VTBR.MM) indicated that Russia should consider managing the assets of international corporations like Fortum and returning them only when sanctions are repealed.
Rosimushchestvo stated that more foreign corporations may discover that Russian authorities temporarily hold their assets, as reported by TASS. The agency would make sure the assets were managed in line with their significance to the economy.
“The decree does not concern ownership issues and does not deprive owners of their assets.” “External management is temporary in nature and means the original owner no longer has the right to make management decisions,” as per the agency, which was quoted by TASS.
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, stated in October that the EU was considering utilising Russian assets that had been blocked as a result of sanctions against Moscow to rebuild Ukraine.
Before selling assets, investors from “unfriendly” nations—as Moscow refers to those who sanctioned Russia during its invasion of Ukraine—must get the approval of a government commission and, in certain cases, the president.
Uniper valued its majority ownership in Unipro, a Russian company, at a symbolic 1 euro in February to account for the likelihood that a deal to sell to a Russian bidder would not go through. The possibility of expropriation of Fortum’s Russian assets had already been disclosed to shareholders.
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