The French villas of Russian oligarchs are proving harder to seize than they were to freeze.
French officials have tracked down more than 20 villas on the Côte d’Azur belonging to sanctioned oligarchs, including the sprawling Château de la Croë in Cap d’Antibes near Nice, bought in 2004 by Roman Abramovich, who is said to have spent more than €100m on renovations.
But lawyers have said that even though the EU’s official policy is “freeze and seize”, the latter part is, in practice, all but impossible under French law. In many cases this is because the assets have been transfered to people, including spouses and children, not on the sanctions list.
