Finland has seized nearly a thousand Russian freight cars as a result of EU sanctions, Reuters reported on Tuesday, June 5. It is alleged that the Finnish bailiff service informed the agency about the freezing of assets of several dozen individuals and companies from Russia and Belarus in accordance with EU sanctions. Among them were transport companies with assets worth at least €82 million.
At least 865 Russian freight cars have been arrested by the Finnish railway operator due to EU sanctions. As reported in a letter that came to the agency’s disposal, the operator of Finnish railways VR Group reduced transportation with Russia after the EU imposed sanctions on the supply of Russian coal in April, and already in June, bailiffs confiscated almost a thousand Russian railway cars.
A spokesperson for VR Group confirmed in an email that “about 800 units of sanctioned wagons are currently in Finland,” and the company is currently interested in returning the wagons to Russia. As noted, most of the arrested cars belong to companies whose shareholders fell under EU sanctions after the start of a special military operation.
Russian companies impacted by the freight car seizure have denounced the move as “unlawful,” AntiWar reports.
This week, at a conference in Switzerland, Ukrainian officials said they wanted seized Russian assets and Russia’s frozen foreign currency reserves to be used to pay for Ukraine’s future reconstruction. But Western officials have yet to agree to the plan, as they question the transparency of such a big move.
Ru-Main, 06.07.2022
Source: TASS
