Latvia shares its experience on the implementation and effectiveness of sanctions

‘’Whereas the financial sanctions already agreed were strong, implementation by the member states needed to improve. Without more uniform implementation of the sanctions, the effect on Russia would be below what it could be,’’ said Mr. Iljenkovs.

Photo: European Commission Director General John Berrigan and the Deputy head of Latvia’s Financial Intelligence Unit, Paulis Iljenkovs.​

In his remarks, the FIU Latvia representative highlighted three key aspects:

• The EU’s financial sanctions against Russia are strong and impactful – including asset freezes worth around €25 billion, the immobilisation of Central Bank of Russia reserves of about €210 billion, as well as capital market restrictions, transaction bans and other.
• Impact depends on uniform and coordinated implementation and enforcement of sanctions. Latvia has centralised sanctions implementation: uniform freezes, a verified register of frozen assets, close monitoring of payments and trade flows, extensive guidance to businesses, and around 600 criminal proceedings, mostly trade-related sanctions breaches.
• It is crucial to regularly assess which financial sanctions deliver the most impact, and focus customs, financial intelligence units, law enforcement and compliance teams where results are strongest.

The debate also touched upon the risks of sanctions circumvention, including via third countries and cryptocurrencies. Mr. Iljenkovs noted that thanks to the EU’s 19th sanctions package, it is now possible to target non-EU cryptocurrency service providers that assist Russia in evading sanctions.

In addition, MEPs discussed the possibility of using frozen Russian assets as collateral for loans to Ukraine, as well as strengthening measures to confiscate assets linked to criminal activities by Russian oligarchs.

More information and the recording of the hearing are available here.

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