French real estate agents on the Côte d'Azur are ignoring sanctions against Russia, authorities claim

PARIS - French authorities have announced that most real estate agencies in the south of France are failing to fulfill their role in implementing European Union sanctions against Russian oligarchs.

The Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) last year investigated several municipalities in the Alpes-Maritimes department where several Russian oligarchs own luxury villas. The investigation found that about 60 percent of real estate agencies did not cooperate with the authorities, for example by checking whether their clients' names were on the EU sanctions list and, if they were listed there, freezing their assets.

European Union adopts nine packages' 'sanctions against Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, including a list of individuals whose assets are to be blocked and restrictions on freedom of movement.

Many of the Russian oligarchs on the list own villas and yachts in France, including former Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich, whose Chateau de la Croix villa near the resort town of Antibes has been frozen, and Rosneft oil and gas company boss Igor Sechin, who had his 85-meter yacht Amore Vero seized from a French shipyard.