Yuriko Backes said Tuesday that the grand duchy's government has identified and sanctioned more than 90 people and 1,100 legal entities under its sanctions regime, as the authorities work to enforce restrictions against Kremlin-linked assets with the European Union.
Backes presented the figures at a meeting of the ministry's monitoring committee, which oversees the country's sanctions implementation and its possible impact on the Luxembourgish financial sector, among its other responsibilities.
The finance ministry said that the frozen assets included bank accounts and transferable securities, but did not give more details about what assets it had imposed restrictions on.
"The Luxembourg authorities are cooperating closely with their European counterparts and those of the other [EU] member states, in order to ensure effective implementation of the sanctions and thus prevent any attempts to circumvent them," the ministry said in French.
The asset freezes are legal restrictive measures that bar any Luxembourgeois or legal resident of the country from financially interacting with the person or organization targeted by the sanctions.
Western nations are currently working to lift Russia's blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports, which are used to export wheat, of which Kyiv is a major global producer. The blockade is disrupting global supply chains and causing international food shortages.
EU states are stepping up its sanctions against Russia as its invasion of Ukraine has now lasted more than 100 days. There is a planned phased 90% cut in Russian oil imports and the county's largest bank has been cut off from SWIFT, the international loan messaging network.
The bloc's latest package of sanctions also included a ban on EU insurers providing coverage to Russian oil tankers. But Dmitri Medvedev, a former president of Russia — and a key ally of Vladimir Putin — said the tankers could continue to work with state-provided assurance, calling the sanctions the work of "European imbeciles."
The oil restrictions were part of the sixth package of sanctions, with previous measures including restrictions on digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, and the EU shutting out seven of Russia's biggest banks from SWIFT.
The EU is working to standardize the crime of sanctions evasion across the bloc, and have created a task force to freeze and recover assets of Russian oligarchs.
The Netherlands said in April it had identified and frozen more than €500 million in Russian assets, despite complications caused by the nation's strict privacy laws.
The U.K. has also levied a series of sanctions against Putin's government and Russian businessmen, freezing the assets of Russia's flag carrier, Aeroflot PJSC, and two other airlines, and forcing oligarch Roman Abramovich to sell London soccer club Chelsea Football Club.
--Editing by Joe Millis.
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