So far, the German government has frozen about 3.5 billion euros in Russian assets under the EU's sanctions policy, a source in the German Federal Finance Ministry told TASS.
" Assets worth about 3.5 billion euros have been frozen or frozen in Germany," the source said. The source added that the assets included "bottlenecked funds and assets of individuals or organizations blacklisted, as well as foreign assets of the Russian Central Bank in countries banned from trading."
After the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022, Germany has imposed a series of sanctions on Russia, in coordination with the European Union (EU) and Western partners. These measures focus on economic, energy, financial and political sectors, aiming to put pressure on Russia and show support for Ukraine.
As one of the countries heavily dependent on Russian gas, Germany has taken drastic dependence cuts.
Germany has suspended the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project shortly after the conflict began, despite the project being completed and ready for operation.
In addition, Germany has sharply reduced its energy imports from Russia, moving to other suppliers such as Norway, the US and Qatar.
The sanctions have caused losses to the Russian economy but also caused Germany to face difficulties, especially high energy prices and pressure from domestic enterprises.
The German central bank (Bundesbank) has cut its growth outlook for the EU's leading economy, forecasting the German economy to decrease by 0.2% this year, lower than the previously forecast growth rate of 0.3%.
Germany's GDP is expected to grow by 0.2% next year, compared to the previous forecast of 1.1%. For 2026 and 2027, the Bundesbank forecasts growth of 0.8% and 0.9% respectively.
Meanwhile, the Russian economy is growing and the country is developing despite unprecedented sanctions and pressure from the ruling elite of some countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the 22nd United Russia party congress.
"Russia is developing, the economy is growing and this is happening in the context of sanctions, which is literally unprecedented in the history of the world, in the context of serious intervention and pressure from the ruling elite of some countries," the Russian leader noted.
This challenging period also opens up new opportunities that Russia is taking advantage of right now, President Putin stressed.
Mr. Putin added that all goals set for Russia in the near future and in the long term will certainly be achieved.
