Today, May 15, the Estonian Parliament passed a law that will allow the confiscation of assets belonging to sanctioned Russian individuals in favor of Ukraine.
This was announced by Hendrik Johannes Terras, the chairman of the Estonian Parliament's Constitutional Committee, as reported by Postimees.
Terras explained that establishing legal regulations for the use of frozen assets has been a challenging task, one being addressed by several allied countries and international organizations. However, Estonia is playing a pioneering role in this process.
"Russia is an aggressor state. The compensation for the damage it has caused during military actions should not fall on Ukraine and its allies," he said.
Terras stated that frozen assets based on international sanctions could be used to ensure accountability for the damages inflicted on Ukraine during the war.
He clarified that the adopted law proposes a mechanism that holds individuals and enterprises directly involved in the aggression against Ukraine accountable.
The decision to use property as an advance payment for inflicted damages will be made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during administrative proceedings.
To decide on using property as an advance payment for damage compensation, it is necessary to prove that illegal activities caused damage that needs to be compensated according to international law.
Additionally, the affected foreign state must present a claim to the offending state, which the latter has failed to address within a reasonable timeframe.
"There must be agreements between Estonia and the requesting state regarding the use of property as an advance payment for damage compensation, as well as the transfer of the right to claim the property owner," the statement said.
Furthermore, there must be sufficient evidence of a connection between the property owner and the illegal activity.
