Written evidence submitted by REDRESS to the Treasury Committee inquiry into the UK’s financial sanctions on Russia 26 March 2024

Finally, in a first attempt by a EU country to craft a legal way for asset confiscation, the Estonian parliament passed a draft law in the first reading that would allow the Estonian Government to confiscate Russian frozen assets and use the revenue as “prepayment of the compensation for the damage caused to a foreign state by a violation of the prohibition of the use of force under Article 2(4) U. [...] 5 For example, under Switzerland’s 2016 Foreign Illicit Assets Act, there is a presumption that assets are of illicit origin where the following conditions are fulfilled: (1) the wealth of the individual who has the power of disposal over the assets increased inordinately, facilitated by the exercise of a public function by the PEP, and (2) the level of corruption in the country of origin or surro. [...] This stands in stark contrast to the remarks made by the Foreign Secretary in January of this year in Davos on the confiscation of Russian assets, where he stated “[a]t the end of the day, Russia is going to have to pay reparations for its illegal invasion, so why not spend some of the money now, rather than wait till the war is over and have all the legal wrangling about reparations”. [...] A joint assessment by the World Bank, the Government of Ukraine, the European Commission and the United Nations published in March 2023 estimated the total cost of reconstruction and recovery at US$411 billion, which includes damage to infrastructure and to the environment, as well as economic and social losses resulting from the conflict. [...] 13 Written evidence submitted by REDRESS to the Treasury Committee inquiry into the UK’s financial sanctions on Russia Summary QUESTIONS FOR THE UK GOVERNMENT Introduction TOPIC 1: Whether financial sanctions instituted by the UK on Russia, are complete and effective in terms of the entities that have been designated, and the entities which have to comply with the rules? Inconsistency in designati.