Duma reacted to US plans to hit Russian loopholes from sanctions

Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexei Chepa commented for “Tapes.ru” the ideas of the American authorities to remove legal restrictions on the confiscation of private property of Russian citizens and tighten the rules on individuals and structures that allegedly help Russians evade sanctions. These ideas, according to the deputy, are either meaningless or undermine the confidence in American jurisdiction among almost all businessmen, including American ones.

The procedure for confiscating the property of Russians with the subsequent sale and transfer of assets to Ukraine, the deputy believes, will become an obvious infringement on one of the main articles of the US Constitution, which guarantees the protection of private property, with all the ensuing reputational consequences. “If the issue of protecting private property (in the US – ed.) hangs up, I think this is a serious blow to US confidence, which has been greatly shaken in the world recently,” the deputy explained his point of view.

The idea of ​​restrictions on those who allegedly help Russians evade sanctions is a gesture of impotence due to the ineffectiveness of sanctions. “Out of impotence, they are trying to take some steps. It is interesting for business that used to be, which is possible today, to interact, people find contacts and opportunities to do this,” Chepa said, in fact, indicating another direction of impact on the interests of American business.

As for the idea to require disclosure of information about the actual owner of the housing, it caused some bewilderment in the deputy: such information was practically freely available before. “It was possible to see the history of any real estate … with one restriction, if the FBI didn’t interfere,” Alexey Chepa clarified.