Russia Does Not Plan To Confiscate European Union Assets, But Observes European Actions

JAKARTA - Russia does not plan to confiscate any European assets, including companies and banks, but is ready to review its position if the European Union confiscates frozen Russian state assets.

"We haven't confiscated anything. The European side hasn't asked for a confiscation yet, so we're not going to confiscate anything until they do. If they eventually confiscate, we'll consider it," said Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev.

Moiseev said the president's recent decision on accelerating the privatization of state-owned assets was not linked to the plan to confiscate European assets.

He stressed that European private companies and banks, which are still operating in Russia, were not confiscated by the state.