Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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207. To ask the Minister for Finance if financial sanctions in respect of Russian interests make provision for the freezing and or interruption of cybercurrencies. [12922/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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It is important to note that sanctions enacted in the form of Regulations issued at EU level have direct effect across the Union. All natural and legal persons in the State are obliged to comply with such regulations. A breach of such a sanction is a criminal offence. 

Targeted sanctions have been in place against specified Russian individuals and entities due to Russia’s actions in relation to Ukraine since 2014. These have been updated many times since, including several updates and amendments made since 21st February 2022.

Among the various measures currently in place, of note is Council Regulation (EU) 269/2014, most recently updated by Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/353 of 2^ndMarch. Article 2 of this Regulation states that, in relation to the persons and entities against whom it is directed, that:

1. All funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by any natural or legal persons, entities or bodies, or natural or legal persons, entities or bodies associated with them, as listed in Annex I, shall be frozen.
2. No funds or economic resources shall be made available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of natural or legal persons, entities or bodies, or natural or legal persons, entities or bodies associated with them, as listed in Annex I.

‘funds’ means financial assets and benefits of every kind, including, but not limited to:

(i) cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment instruments;

(ii) deposits with financial institutions or other entities, balances on accounts, debts and debt obligations;

(iii) publicly- and privately-traded securities and debt instruments, including stocks and shares, certificates representing securities, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures and derivatives contracts;

(iv) interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by assets;

(v) credit, right of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial commitments;

(vi) letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale; and

(vii) documents showing evidence of an interest in funds or financial resources;

While ‘economic resources’ are defined as follows:

‘economic resources’ means assets of every kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, which are not funds but may be used to obtain funds, goods or services;

Accordingly, it is a requirement of these sanctions measures that ‘cybercurrencies’ or ‘cryptocurrencies’ , as assets, be frozen and/or not made available to the listed individuals and entities.

Notwithstanding the above, the existing sanctions regulations may be amended further and amendments may include the incorporation of language explicitly referencing ‘cybercurrencies’ or ‘cryptocurrencies’.