STUTTGART, November 26 (RAPSI) – Russia does not plan to nationalize European or US assets in response to the sanctions, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told journalists Wednesday following a meeting with German business leaders that was organized by the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Ulyukayev said German business leaders asked if German assets in Russia could be blacklisted or nationalized. He assured them that there are no such plans.

VTB president Andrei Kostin, who was also in Stuttgart, responded to the German’s concern, “But this concern can be easily settled,” he told journalists.

Kostin also said that “unlike the Chinese,” German businesses have problems with financing exports to Russia. “KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, one of largest banks in Germany) and other banks have stopped providing funding due not only to the EU but also US sanctions,” the Russian banker said.

Russia-West relations soured over Ukraine. In late July, the EU and the US went beyond pinpoint sanctions against individuals and companies to restrictive measures against entire economic sectors. In response, Russia limited food imports from the countries that imposed sanctions against it, specifically the US, the EU, Canada, Australia and Norway.

Kommersant business daily reported in October that Russian state run oil giant Rosneft had proposed a package of retaliatory measures to Western sanctions, which allegedly contained the possible seizure of property belonging to the United States, the EU and their citizens in Russia as an interim measure to ensure the fulfilment of contracts.