Roman Khaminskiy, Head of International compliance practice, and Evgeny Letunovsky, Head of Asset protection practice at Orion, provided professional commentary for Pravo.ru.

Pravo.ru analyzed the issue of frozen assets: how to get foreign restrictions lifted and retrieve the money.

As a result of Western sanctions, many Russians had their assets frozen: these assets are no longer accessible, yet their owners must pay maintenance fees. Owners must clear complex formalities to have their assets released. According to the experts, it's critical to fill out applications accurately and maintain effective communications with foreign regulators. Not only must asset legality be proven, but the procedure for moving it to another jurisdiction must also be explained.

“Following the adoption of Western sanctions, Russian investors had their bank accounts, real estate, and other assets outside of Russia frozen. Sanctions is the most common reason for asset freezing. Asset freezing can also occur as a result of violations of money laundering and sanctions laws (secondary sanctions),” explains Roman Khaminskiy.

Evgeny Letunovsky discussed the foreign regulator’s role: “All matters pertaining to application review are left to the regulator's discretion. In addition to approving or rejecting applications to have frozen assets released, it establishes conditions for the issuance of authorization.”

Click the link to read the full article in Russian.