Seize, Not Just Freeze, Russian Assets? Why That’s Hard

A few weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, then-UK 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 was step on board. That’s because, by law, the UK hadn’t seized the vessel, just frozen its ownership status to ensure the owner couldn’t use it either. The same situation applies to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of sanctioned Russian property, which, if seized and sold by Western governments, could help pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Freezing an asset means it can’t be used, moved or sold, but its legal ownership doesn’t change. Seizing an asset — be it a vehicle tied to drug-dealing or a superyacht enjoyed by a sanctioned oligarch — transfers ownership to the seizing authority, which can use or sell the asset.