Russia seizes assets at European state-owned energy firms in retaliation against 'unfriendly countries'
- Russia just seized some assets belonging to Finland's Fortum and Germany's Uniper.
- The move is a retaliation against western nations, which have blocked or seized assets from Russian firms.
Russia seized assets this week at two European state-owned energy firms – and the Kremlin could take control of more in retaliation against "unfriendly nations," it warned.
Russian assets of the Finland-owned Fortum and the German-owned Uniper were seized after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, the decree is a retaliation against moves from Western nations, which blocked or seized $58 billion of assets controlled by Russia, and have floated banning nearly all trade exports to the nation amid its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The move comes just days after Russia's state-owned bank VTB suggested the country should manage the assets of foreign companies, and return them only if western sanctions were canceled.
"The decree adopted is a response to the aggressive actions of unfriendly countries," Peskov said in a statement, adding that Russia was merely managing the assets, and not taking them away from the owners. "The main purpose of the decree is to form a compensation fund for the possible application of reciprocal measures in response to the illegal expropriation of Russian assets abroad," he added.
Fortum and Uniper have said they would look into the matter, with Fortum adding in a statement that it was unclear how the asset seizure would impact company operations. Both firms have been trying to exit Russia for months, Reuters reported, moves that are expected to be complicated by the Kremlin's recent play.
Russia has weathered western sanctions since beginning its "special military operation" in Ukraine early last year, with some experts claiming trade restrictions have majorly hurt its economy. Despite more positive stats that are touted by the Kremlin, Russia's economy is actually "imploding," two Yale researchers said, and one think tank said it believe the nation could become a failed state in 10 years as sanctions bite into economic growth.