Brussels - (AFP) - European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders announced Saturday that some 17 billion euros of assets of Russian oligarchs and entities in the European Union have been frozen in seven member states, following sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the war in Ukraine.

"So far, the assets of 90 people have been frozen, amounting to more than 17 billion euros in seven member states, including 2.2 billion in Germany," he said in an interview with media affiliated with the German "Fonke" group.

At the beginning of July, Reynders estimated the value of frozen assets in the European Union at €13.8 billion, mainly in five countries, owned by oligarchs or members of the Russian elite sanctioned by the 27 countries.

"If it is criminal funds confiscated by the European Union, it can be transferred to the compensation fund of Ukraine," the commissioner also said in the interview published on Saturday.

Ukrainian officials demand that the frozen assets be used to rebuild their country after the war. But Reynders warned that "the amount is completely insufficient to fund reconstruction".

Western sanctions have also led to the "freezing of 300 billion euros" of foreign exchange reserves of the Russian Central Bank in the world, an amount that can be used as "collateral", according to the Commissioner's estimate.

"Ukraine also wants to use this money for reconstruction," said Didier Reynders.

"From my point of view, it is possible to at least keep the 300 billion euros as collateral so that Russia will automatically participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine," he added.

In total, since the invasion of Crimea in 2014, the assets of 1,236 people have been frozen, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, members of the State Duma and oligarchs such as Roman Abramovich, Mikhail Friedman or Peter Aven, and 115 entities, and they have also been banned from entering the European Union.