Dutch Foreign Ministry allows unblocking of most russian assets - De Telegraaf

Since the beginning of 2024, with the permission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the banks of the Netherlands have unblocked more than EUR 560 million.

This is evident from the documents that Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp sent to the parliament, De Telegraaf reports.

"If in January 2024, officials considered blocked assets worth EUR 660 million, then by the middle of the year the figure dropped to EUR 97.2 million," the article says.

At the same time, two thirds of the frozen funds from the entire original amount, or EUR 430 million, belonged to two russian companies. The publication does not disclose their name.

For example, EUR 230 million of a particular company no longer needed to be frozen, because the company was "formally removed" from the russian owner through a special structure.

The mentioned EUR 660 million are "almost all assets" that have been "ever frozen" since the russian invasion of Ukraine.

As previously reported, the Netherlands will not transfer the Patriot air defense system to Ukraine due to the refusal of one of the country's allies to participate in the supply. Initially, the Netherlands announced its intention to transfer the Patriot to Ukraine at the end of May. The Ministry of Defense assured that the country has the "main components" of the system, and the rest of the details were to be provided by other states.