War in Ukraine
Seizing Russian assets to help pay to rebuild Ukraine proves complicated for governments
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, around $358 billion worth of assets have been frozen around the world, but relatively little has been actually seized
A few weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the then British transport minister Grant Shapps used TikTok to show off a 192-foot blue superyacht, the Phi, owned by a wealthy Russian businessman that the British government had just impounded at a London dock.
It was a vivid display of Western sanctions designed to squeeze Russia’s economy, and Russians’ wealth. One thing Shapps couldn’t do, however, was step on board.
That’s because by law ...
