The EU will pay compensation to companies whose assets were nationalized by Russia.

Russian authorities have confiscated business assets belonging to Western companies that decided to leave the country, leaving them no alternative but to abandon their investment.

The leaders of the EU, having agreed on the 12th package of sanctions, decided to use funds frozen in the EU to compensate European companies that lost assets in Russia.

Until now, the EU had only frozen the assets of individuals and legal entities that were included in the sanctions lists. Talks about their confiscation were discussed, but European legislation does not allow alienating property.

Now, the EU is introducing an exception: if the Russian division of a European company was forcibly transferred to the control of Russian authorities, it will be possible to use Russian assets to pay the agreed, adequate compensation to the parent company.

According to economists, the EU’s 12th package of sanctions allows European countries to adopt laws to compensate companies whose assets were taken into ownership or management by Russia.