31 Russian-Linked Properties Worth $920M Seized By French Government

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Dozens of Russian oligarch-owned properties in France have been frozen by governing authorities there, and according to estimations from Forbes, these properties are worth nearly $1 billion. The French government estimated that 41 properties owned by sanctioned Russians that had been frozen by authorities in the country in connection to Russia’s unfolding invasion of Ukraine were worth almost $620 million, but Forbes provided the higher estimate for a subset of that list, suggesting that the value of what’s been subjected to the French government’s restrictions is substantially larger. Around the world, the value of Russian oligarch-tied assets that have been targeted by local authorities is staggering. In Germany, officials recently seized a yacht called the Dilbar that’s worth somewhere between $600 million and $735 million and is apparently the largest yacht in the world by weight.

The list goes on. The U.K. government recently undertook its apparent largest asset freeze ever, affecting Russian oligarchs’ assets worth up to $13 billion. These assets were held by Eugene Tenenbaum and David Davidovich, associates of sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Officials in the U.K. indicated that they launched that move in coordination with authorities in the self-governing Channel Islands jurisdiction of Jersey, where officials recently froze more than $7 billion worth of assets suspected of ties to Abramovich, who’d been named in 2018 as the wealthiest resident of the Channel Islands. As for the French properties, the Forbes valuations covered 31 spots, including Abramovich’s “$250 million Château de la Croë in Antibes on the French Riviera and his $90 million estate on the luxe Caribbean island of St. Barts,” as the outlet describes them. Forbes estimated the overall value of those 31 destinations at $920 million.

As explained by Forbes, “Now that the properties have been frozen, they can’t be sold or rented—and since the sanctions on these billionaires include a travel ban, they can’t physically travel to them anymore either.” Besides Abramovich, other wealthy Russians affected by the French moves include Viktor Rashnikov and Alexei Kuzmichev, among multiple others. Presumably, economic moves meant to restrict the flow of money around and into the Putin regime will continue through the duration of the war in Ukraine, however long it lasts. A recent CNN report said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told European officials that the Biden administration believes the Russia-Ukraine conflict could last through the end of this year. Russian forces are believed to be preparing for additional offensives in the eastern and southern portions of Ukraine, in addition to the continuing violence around the country. Russian troops have sustained numerous high-profile setbacks, including the deaths of eight generals and the recent sinking of Russia’s large warship called the Moskva after Ukrainians struck it.