Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will use her discretionary powers to redirect a portion of the £783,827 recovered from Petr Aven to support survivors of the conflict in Ukraine.

The NCA secured a forfeiture of Petr Aven’s funds after breaches of sanctions regulations. The allocation of forfeited funds under POCA is governed by the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS), a discretionary funding model that allocates returned funds between central government and operational partners. In the spirit of the scheme, the Government encourages agencies to use ARIS funds to increase asset recovery and, where appropriate, fund local crime fighting priorities for the benefit of the community. Victims of crime can also apply for the release of seized funds to them.

In some circumstances, funds can be returned to a state at their request. The UK remains fully committed to working with allies to pursue all lawful routes through which Russian seized assets can be used to support the reconstruction of Ukraine.