Sergey Tarasevich has assessed for RBC the results of the first round of frozen assets exchange

The Russian authorities managed to carry out the buyout of blocked assets of Russians by foreigners despite sanctions and other restrictions of the European Union, including a direct ban on the participation of the EU citizens in the procedure. Recall that this is a mechanism where foreign investors can buy back blocked foreign assets from Russians using money from C-type accounts. On them since February 2022 the assets of foreigners are accumulated – the money cannot be withdrawn from the country, but can be spent to pay taxes, duties and other mandatory payments.

Within the first round, non-residents bought out about a quarter of the frozen assets of Russians for a total of RUB 8.1 bn. The total value of the assets was estimated at RUB 35 bn rubles. The pool included more than 2,500 different asset names, 60% of which were shares and depositary receipts for shares of foreign issuers, such as Alphabet, Tesla and Microsoft.

‘Given the position of foreign regulators on the exchange, the fact that it took place in such a volume is a success.  Earlier it was assumed that the exchange would take place, but in my opinion, the number of non-residents who are willing to take the risk exceeded expectations,’ Sergey Tarasevich, Senior Associate of Tax & Administrative Law Practice at Maxima Legal, assessed the results of the first stage specially for RBC.

However, the expert emphasised that the reaction of foreign regulators to the first stage of the exchange will also be important. ‘If non-residents are not caught by any sanctions, the prospects for the ‘additional round’ seem to be positive,’ Sergey explained.

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