Russian assets in Latvia frozen amid sanctions row

Three private bank accounts in Latvia have had their assets frozen today amid an EU, Russia sanctions row, reports LETA.

EU officials imposed sanctions on Russia last month over its actions in the Ukraine. The latest sanctions are targeted at Russia's finance, defense and energy fields.

Russia responded this week by banning large quantities of Western food products from crossing its borders.

Latvia's Financial and Capital Market Commission has collated information from Latvian banks and financial institutions about asset freeze for 95 persons and 23 entities from Russia and Ukraine that are included in the EU list of sanctions.

Three of them have bank accounts in Latvia, the commission informed LETA. The finance market supervisor did not provide any details on these cases, for example, whether they concern legal entities or private individuals or which of the banks in Latvia are involved.

The commission says that the financial sanctions have not left a significant impact on the banking sector or the total amount of deposits in Latvian banks.

The amount of the money frozen in the said bank accounts also indicates that politicians from the East have not deposited large amounts of money in Latvian banks, the commission indicates.