The Czech Republic has removed four buildings from the list of Russian real estate properties that were blocked due to Russian military aggression in Ukraine, the government decided last November. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), they were placed on the list due to a technical oversight.
The server reports that the seals in the land register have disappeared from three Prague buildings in K Staré Bubenč Street and one in nearby Českomalínská Street. In the first case, two abandoned apartment buildings and a garage next door. The second address is a three-storey building connected by a covered bridge to a now defunct high school near the Russian embassy.
The MFA confirmed the delisting of the properties, saying the buildings were placed on the list by a technical oversight. Mariana Wernerova of the MFA explained that the buildings are protected from freezing by an international treaty. Wernerová said it was an isolated case and that such an oversight had never happened anywhere else in the Czech Republic.
The Financial Analytical Office (FAÚ), which falls under the Finance Ministry, is responsible for enforcing the sanctions. “Generally speaking, if facts are discovered that were not known before and which prove that the property in question is not subject to sanctions, the FAÚ’s preliminary order prohibiting the disposal of the property in question is cancelled,” the website quotes Finance Ministry spokeswoman Petra Vodstrčilová as saying. She did not comment on specific properties.
In November, the government added a company for managing Russian assets abroad to the national sanctions list, freezing about 70 properties mainly in Prague, Central Bohemia and Karlovy Vary. The measure did not apply to diplomatic missions, which include an embassy or an ambassador’s residence. The Kremlin responded at the time by saying it was considering a response. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the move illegal. An objection to the listing was rejected by the cabinet of Petro Fiala (ODS) at the end of January.
Source: Reuters, Seznam Zprávy and CTK
