November 11 (SeeNews) - Romania's tax authority, ANAF, has blocked 10.09 million euro ($10.4 million) from accounts of Russian companies targeted by sanctions imposed at the EU level over the invasion of Ukraine, ANAF president Lucian Heius said on Friday.
"Starting from February 28 this year, controls were carried out in order to identify individuals or entities that were subject to international sanctions. We checked over 2,400 individuals and issued orders to block accounts of several legal entities such as Aeroflot, TMK, Metalloinvest Trading, MMK Metalurji and MMK Metalurji Sanayi," Heius said in a live-streamed press conference.
ANAF also confiscated 13.2 million lei ($2.77 million/2.69 million euro) from Russian companies targeted by international sanctions and imposed 280,000 lei in fines to those which did not comply with the legal decisions.
"As president of ANAF, I also issued nine orders for derogation from these sanctions because I considered that it is not normal that certain companies where many employees work to have to suspend their activity," Heius said, reminding of a European directive that allows, under certain conditions, the suspension of sanctions.
In June, Romania's government adopted an emergency decree enforcing the EU directive that allows local companies controlled by entities which are subject to sanctions to continue their activity without having their accounts blocked if they are appointed a state supervisor.
In March, ANAF blocked the accounts and froze assets of three companies indirectly controlled by an unnamed individual who is on the EU list of Russian nationals sanctioned over the invasion of Ukraine. The three companies - TMK Artrom, TMK Assets and TMK Europe GMBH - are controlled by Cyprus-registered TMK Steel Holding United. At the time, at the request of TMK Artrom, a derogation was granted for the continuation of the company's commercial activity and for payments to employees, suppliers and credit institutions.
Also in March, the tax authority blocked the bank accounts of the representative office of Russian flag carrier Aeroflot in Romania.
In October, the EU adopted its eighth sanctions package against Russia, introducing new import bans worth 7 billion euro to curb Russia's revenues as well as export restrictions, which will further deprive the Kremlin's military and industrial complex of key components and technologies and Russia's economy of European services and expertise.
($= 0.9743 euro)