Czech government freezes Russian state's real-estate assets

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech government said on Wednesday it froze Russian state-owned properties in the Czech Republic, expanding a sanctions list set up in retaliation for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The government press office said the EU country widened its national sanctions list to include a Russian company, which is controlled by the Russian presidential administration, and is in charge of managing Russian assets abroad. It did not name the company in the statement.

"Its income from operations serves directly for financing of the Putin regime," the government said in a statement.

"The company's commercial activities are as of today illegal, as well as circumventing and violating this sanction, and its entire assets in the Czech Republic have been frozen," it said.

In the Czech Republic, the Russian company manages a number of real estate properties, the Czech government said.

Diplomatic missions are excluded from the sanctions, news agency CTK quoted Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky as saying.

The Czech sanctions list goes beyond the EU's sanctions packages and includes six other entities or persons.

The Czech Republic has been among the strongest backers of Ukraine since the February 2022 full invasion by Russia.

Russia has said it acted in Ukraine to remove what it perceives as a potential threat to its own security.

(Reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Matthew Lewis)