THE Foreign Secretary has been urged to “sequester” Russian assets frozen by the UK Government to fund a new Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Alyn Smith, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman, said if the “assets were worth sanctioning, they’re worth seizing”. According to the most recent figures from the UK Government, 1,224 individuals and 115 entities are currently subject to some form of sanction.

Mr Smith said he believed the assets were worth around £500 billion.

Those sanctioned so far include former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who is believed to be worth £9bn. He is linked to more than 50 properties in London worth £230m, including a 15-bed mansion in Kensington.

His former business partner, Oleg Deripaska, has properties near Buckingham Palace and a mansion in Surrey, worth in total more than £70m.

Earlier this month, transport secretary Grant Shapps posed for photographs in front of a grounded private jet owned by oligarch Eugene Shvidler, a friend of Roman Abramovich.

The Herald:

In a recent report, the Centre for Economic Policy Research think-tank estimates that the reconstruction cost for Ukraine “likely ranges from €200 billion to €500bn”.

Though they warn that the cost “increases with every additional day of the war and at an increasing rate, as people spend more time away from their homes, children become more traumatised, and private sector companies disintegrate”.

Earlier this week, in her address to the Mansion House, Liz  Truss said ministers were already thinking about how to help “when the guns finally fall silent in Ukraine”.

The Foreign Secretary said the UK Government was “determined to work with the US, with the EU and other allies on a new Marshall Plan for the country”.

During a debate in the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Smith said that should be funded by sequestrating the assets seized by the Government.

In a letter to Ms Truss the SNP MP urges the minister to follow through on his proposal.

“I appreciate that there is a number of legal processes to go through and indeed that you are dealing with people aided and abetted by the best and most slippery lawyers in the world, but I think there should be a clear idea of where we want to get to with the funds.

“I would be of the view that anyone subject to sanctions has prima facie only access to their wealth, often obscene wealth because it has been ultimately stolen from the Russian people.

“They were custodians of it because of their collusion with the kleptocrats in the Kremlin.

“They have no moral right to the assets and where returning them to the Russian people would be impossible, the assets can certainly find a productive home aiding the reconstruction of Ukraine.”

Speaking to The Herald, Mr Smith said: “If the assets were worth sanctioning, they’re worth seizing.  Natural justice says they should be put to the reconstruction of Ukraine.

“The oligarchs have over the years proven they have the best and most expensive lawyers, accountants and PR merchants so they will wriggle and dodge and use every trick to get their assets back, but the fact is their wealth, often obscene wealth, is ultimately stolen from the Russian people and only theirs by virtue of their collusion with the Kremlin in a horrific war against a peaceful and sovereign neighbour.

“Obviously there are legal formalities to be concluded but I think we could do with a clear idea of where we want to get to, and for me, it is entirely right that these assets go to provide some recompense and reconstruction to the people of Ukraine. 

"The generosity of people worldwide and wish to help Ukraine has been inspiring, but there is also a source of considerable funds presently just sitting there, I think we should be rather more forceful in what we allocate it to.”

Stephen Neff, professor of war and peace at the University of Edinburgh, was sceptical of the proposal. He pointed to the first protocol of the European Convention of Human Rights, which guarantees that “every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions”.

He said most of the assets seized by the UK Government were currently “in a kind of suspended animation”, and turning them into cash would require the proceeds of crime act and due process in the courts. 

An FCDO Spokesperson said: “In lockstep with our allies, we have introduced the largest and most severe economic sanctions that Russia has ever faced, to help cripple Putin’s war machine.

“We are determined to work with the US, the EU and our global allies to give Ukraine the support it needs to rebuild their towns and cities, regenerate their industries and secure their freedom for the long term.”