MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. The Ukrainian authorities seized and confiscated Russian and Belarusian assets worth almost $2 billion, Oleg Nemchinov, Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, said on Friday. He added that at the expense of these assets Ukraine finances military expenses.

"Taking into account those assets that are managed by the National Agency of Ukraine for finding, tracing and management of assets [derived from corruption], this is more than 70 billion hryvnias ($1.915 billion)," Nemchinov said on the air of the Ukrainian Rada TV channel in response to a question about the total the value of Russian and Belarusian assets seized and confiscated in Ukraine.

Some assets are being transferred to the Ukrainian army and law enforcement agencies, others to the State Property Fund, Nemchinov said, adding that assets such as biofuel and ammonia are sold at auctions and the proceeds are invested in bonds that finance military spending.

Nemchinov recalled that large properties that were seized or confiscated in Ukraine include the Demurinsky mining and processing plant, the beneficial owner of which, according to the Ukrainian authorities, is Russian businessman Mikhail Shelkov, the assets of Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska and the assets of three Russian banks.

"There are assets of various kinds, there are wagons, there are vehicles, there are several aircraft, there are more than 3,500 residential real estate items, almost 4,000 non-residential real estate items," the minister said. He added that the process of confiscation of property is rather slow, because the Ukrainian authorities want to comply with legal procedures, believing that after the end of hostilities, the owners of assets can go to court and challenge their seizure.

On March 10, 2022, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed a law on the principles for the forced seizure of property items of the Russian Federation and its residents on the territory of Ukraine. According to the document, it is possible to nationalize property on the grounds of social necessity without any compensation. The decision to forcibly seize property is made by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, and approved by the head of state. In April 2022, the Verkhovna Rada approved a bill simplifying the procedure for confiscation of assets of Russian citizens subject to sanctions. Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal said then that all Russian property would be nationalized in Ukraine.