Financial Office: Russian assets worth CZK 10 billion frozen since Ukraine invasion

The Financial Analytical Office has frozen Russian assets worth CZK 10 billion since the outbreak of the invasion of Ukraine, the office’s director Jiří Hylmar told news site Seznam Zprávy in an interview published on Thursday. Half of the entire agency is currently working on matters related to sanctions, according to the director. He added that in addition to money in bank accounts, the office is also cracking down on real estate belonging to people on the European sanctions list and their shares in companies.

According to Mr Hylmar, the main difficulty in the process of enforcing the sanctions is tracing hidden ownership structures through multiple generations and through companies outside of the Czech Republic.