Ukraine: Italy urges other countries to move quickly on seizing Russian assets
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said other countries should follow Italy's lead after it seized luxury villas and superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs placed on the EU's sanctions list.
"I'd really like to see similar measures taken by all of our countries," Draghi said in English during a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of talks in Brussels.
"Now we must all be rapid in the implementation of this," he said, without specifying which countries he thought could do more.
READ ALSO: Russian invasion of Ukraine: What has Italy’s response been so far?
Italian police have so far seized villas and yachts worth 143 million euros ($156 million) from five Russian oligarchs placed on sanctions lists following Moscow's attack on Ukraine, the Italian government said on Saturday.
The luxury properties are located in Lake Como, Tuscany, and the island of Sardinia, while two superyachts were seized at their moorings in northern Italian ports.
These were the ‘Lady M' yacht belonging to steel magnate Alexey Alexandrovits Mordaschov, located in Imperia, and Gennady Timchenko's 'Lena' , moored in Sanremo.
Mordashov and Timchenko are among the ultra-wealthy, influential Russians blacklisted by Brussels for their perceived closeness to the Kremlin.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24th, the EU has moved to freeze the assets of connected oligarchs and bar them from entering the bloc.
Italy began to apply the EU sanctions to Russian oligarchs after last week closing Italian airspace to Russian flights and sending a payment of 110 million euros to Ukraine in a show of "solidarity".
Italy last week also seized dozens of artworks and a helicopter belonging to Italian citizen Lanfranco Cirillo, an architect thought to have designed ‘Putin’s Palace’ on the Black Sea.
Paintings by Picasso, Cezanne, Mirò and Chagall are reportedly among the 143 artworks confiscated by the authorities.
Prosecutors based in the town of Brescia are investigating 44 Russian oligarchs, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
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"I'd really like to see similar measures taken by all of our countries," Draghi said in English during a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of talks in Brussels.
"Now we must all be rapid in the implementation of this," he said, without specifying which countries he thought could do more.
READ ALSO: Russian invasion of Ukraine: What has Italy’s response been so far?
Italian police have so far seized villas and yachts worth 143 million euros ($156 million) from five Russian oligarchs placed on sanctions lists following Moscow's attack on Ukraine, the Italian government said on Saturday.
The luxury properties are located in Lake Como, Tuscany, and the island of Sardinia, while two superyachts were seized at their moorings in northern Italian ports.
These were the ‘Lady M' yacht belonging to steel magnate Alexey Alexandrovits Mordaschov, located in Imperia, and Gennady Timchenko's 'Lena' , moored in Sanremo.
Mordashov and Timchenko are among the ultra-wealthy, influential Russians blacklisted by Brussels for their perceived closeness to the Kremlin.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24th, the EU has moved to freeze the assets of connected oligarchs and bar them from entering the bloc.
Italy began to apply the EU sanctions to Russian oligarchs after last week closing Italian airspace to Russian flights and sending a payment of 110 million euros to Ukraine in a show of "solidarity".
Italy last week also seized dozens of artworks and a helicopter belonging to Italian citizen Lanfranco Cirillo, an architect thought to have designed ‘Putin’s Palace’ on the Black Sea.
Paintings by Picasso, Cezanne, Mirò and Chagall are reportedly among the 143 artworks confiscated by the authorities.
Prosecutors based in the town of Brescia are investigating 44 Russian oligarchs, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
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