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More Russian money has been frozen than announced by Finance Minister Kaag earlier this week. She wrote in a letter to the House of Representatives that 6 million euros of Russian assets were frozen in the Netherlands. According to the president of De Nederlandsche Bank, Klaas Knot, it now amounts to 200 million euros. He announced that in news time†

Knot says the difference is so big because not all of the asset freezes had passed yet. The amount of 6 million raised questions, because a country like Belgium, for example, has already frozen 10 billion euros. Knot does not expect us to reach such an amount in the Netherlands. “This comparison with Belgium is not entirely fair. Belgium plays a much bigger role in international payment transactions.”

In the Netherlands, most links with Russia go through a fiduciary office. “It is an administrative office, but the assets are simply not located in the Netherlands. There is little to freeze.”

Trust offices are being forced to stop providing financial services to Russian clients, but around 100 reports have now been received from trust offices. But that doesn’t yield “spectacular amounts,” Knot says.