The government approved a draft law that partially transposes the Directive (EU) 2024/1260 on asset recovery and confiscation. The document meets the key objective of the Reform Agenda of the Development Plan of RM for 2025-2027 and implements one of the measures of the National Plan for the Recovery of Criminal Assets for 2023-2027.
According to the new mechanism, after the assets are confiscated by a final court decision, they will be transferred to the state ownership and evaluated by the State Tax Service. Subsequently, the data will be transferred to the Criminal Asset Recovery Agency, which will publish their list on the website of the National Anti-Corruption Center. State institutions or non-governmental organizations will be able to apply for their use within 90 days.
The Commission for the Management of Confiscated Assets, established under the Ministry of Justice and composed of representatives of several ministries and civil society, will decide on the distribution of the assets. Those that are not claimed will remain at the disposal of the state.
For example, a confiscated minibus may be given free of charge to an organization that needs it to transport children.
The same principle applies to assets obtained from abroad, unless the state of origin establishes other conditions for use. So far, all confiscated assets have been assessed by the STS and the funds received have been sent directly to the state budget.
Taking into account the practice of European countries such as Spain, France, Latvia and Romania, the draft law provides that all confiscated funds will be allocated separately in the state budget. Subsequently, they will be distributed as follows: 70% will go to general budgetary needs; 20% to social projects (education, environmental protection, victim support, etc.); 10% to public needs (modernization of public authorities, construction, road building, etc.).
