The head of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority of Greece confirmed that, in connection with the invasion of Ukraine, assets of Russian individuals and legal entities were seized in accordance with the decisions of the European Union.
In conversation with cathimerini the head of the department, Charalambos Vourliotis, explained – “so that there are no misunderstandings” – that the confiscation concerns names from the relevant lists EUand that the measure does not apply “generally and indiscriminately to Russian citizens or businessmen”.
Vourliotis said the authorities exercised due diligence in identifying assets of all kinds, but did not go into detail about how many assets were frozen and how much they cost.
“The authority has conducted an investigation against about 1,000 legal entities and individuals,” he said, noting that other measures are being taken.
Nevertheless, tens of thousands of Russian citizens who have accounts in Greek banks are faced with a problem freeze their accounts in March of this year. The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Greece came out with a sharp statement on this occasion.
Most of them solved the problem with unlocking, but not everyone succeeded, for example, those who live outside of Greece. They have yet to prove that they are not Putin’s friends or Russian oligarchs.
It is noteworthy that the task of blocking accounts was assigned to the Office for the Fight against Money Laundering. Is this such an additional way to humiliate Russia?
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