To replenish the state treasury: Russia wants to auction off numerous properties in Crimea Macron: ambassador in Niger “literally held hostage”.

Russia wants to sell about 100 properties on Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. The land that has already been nationalized will soon be sold, Vladimir Konstantinov, spokesman for the Russian authorities in Crimea, wrote in the short message service Telegram. Russia had already annexed Crimea in 2014, in violation of international law. Since then, together with the Crimean Bridge, which connects the peninsula with the Russian mainland, it has been considered a prestige object of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As Konstantinov now writes, the sale should generate more than 815 million rubles (almost 8 million euros) for the state budget. The properties, which were originally Ukrainian owned, were nationalized by Russian authorities before the auction. According to Konstantinov, among the buildings now up for auction is a piece of land allegedly owned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. However, it cannot be verified whether this actually belongs to Zelensky.

Replenish the treasure chest

False reports are always circulating about Zelensky’s assets during Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Or if it was said that Zelensky had a personal fortune of 1.2 billion euros, then it was 800 billion dollars.

However, with the exception of a villa in Italy, there are no credible sources or evidence of Zelensky’s wealth. The American magazine ‘Forbes’ estimates the size to be considerably smaller at just under 20 million dollars (18.6 million euros) and writes that Zelenskjy, unlike his predecessor, has never been a billionaire. According to state news agency Ukrinform, the Ukrainian president also announced his salary for 2020 to create transparency.

With the auctions, Russia apparently hopes to replenish its treasury, which has suffered from Western sanctions and the withdrawal of numerous companies since the war of aggression against Ukraine. According to information from Brussels, Russian economic output shrank by 2.1 percent in 2022. But since this spring, the recovery appears to have picked up: in April, Russia’s gross domestic product grew by 3.6 percent, according to estimates, and by even 5.8 percent in May.

Fight for Crimea

However, the current positive growth forecasts mainly apply to those sectors involved in the military-industrial complex, i.e. linked to the war economy stimulated by the Kremlin, according to Russian economist Igor Lipsits in an interview with “WirtschaftsWoche”. According to the expert, other key sectors are facing a “dramatic downward trend”. You can read more about it here.

It is unclear whether the Russian authorities can actually implement their plan and find buyers for the properties. Crimea is considered the main target of the Ukrainian army in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. As part of an ongoing counter-offensive, Kiev wants to liberate Crimea and other occupied territories. The peninsula, which is also an important part of Russia’s military strategy, has been repeatedly attacked by Ukraine in recent weeks. The Ukrainian army damaged two Russian ships near the peninsula on Thursday night.

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