The European Union can freeze assets linked to Russians sanctioned over the war in Ukraine, even if these assets are held in trust and if there is no direct legal connection to the sanctioned individuals.
Points of attention
- The EU has adopted a new decision allowing the freezing of assets held in trusts controlled by individuals sanctioned over the war in Ukraine, even without a direct legal connection.
- The Court of Justice of the EU has broadened the definitions of ownership and control to cover all forms of power or influence over assets, emphasizing the effectiveness of EU law.
EU may unfreeze Russian assets from trusts
The relevant decision is published on the website of the Court of Justice of the EU.
In order to ensure the effectiveness of EU law, the concepts of ‘ownership’ and ‘control’ should be interpreted in such a way as to cover all forms of power or influence exercised over these assets, in particular in the absence of any legal link between them and the person concerned. This means that assets can be considered as belonging to or under the control of the settlor or beneficiary of the trust if these persons have the power to use, benefit from or dispose of these assets or to influence them and the decisions taken by the trustee in relation to them.
Reuters notes that this decision of the EU Court concerned three cases brought before an Italian court.
The point was that Italian authorities had previously frozen the assets of companies and a yacht held by trusts through complex ownership structures, but considered to be the property of Russians who were under EU sanctions.
The companies challenged the freezing of these assets because, in their opinion, the individuals against whom sanctions were imposed had no control over these assets.
In December 2025, the European Union decided to freeze Russian sovereign assets indefinitely, which means that the freeze confirmation procedure does not need to be completed every six months.
The leaders agreed that the loan for Ukraine for 2026-2027, which was agreed upon at the December summit, will be repaid by Ukraine only after receiving reparations from the Russian Federation.
Until such time as stated in the summit conclusions, Russian sovereign assets will remain frozen, and the European Union reserves the right to use them to repay the loan in full compliance with EU and international law.
In February 2026, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that the authorities of European Union countries may refuse to register and seize cars imported from Russia into the EU territory in circumvention of current sanctions, and registration of such cars is possible only if they were imported without violating the embargo.
