Italy has frozen nearly $40 million in assets held by Russian billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, who was branded a member of President Vladimir Putin's inner circle and slapped with U.S. and EU sanctions earlier this year, a news report said.
The freeze affected assets including a luxury hotel in the center of Rome, bank accounts, company shares and real estate that Rotenberg owns in Sardinia and the Lazio region of central Italy, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Tuesday. Their combined worth is some 30 million euros ($39 million), the paper said.
Rotenberg on Tuesday criticized the freeze as exceeding the requirements of the EU sanctions. "It's surprising that in this situation we are talking about real estate, which does not fall under the sanctions," he told news agency Interfax.
"Only accounts and assets are included in the sanctions, of which I have none in Italy …this once again demonstrates the entire illegitimacy and absurdity of this situation," Rotenberg said.
INC News, 23/09/2014
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