The EU will not unblock the Russian €70 billion — Ukraine will be able to receive income from them

Russiaʼs national settlement depository has lost its bid to lift European Union sanctions over its alleged help in financing Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Presumably, such a court decision will affect the fact that in the future Ukraine will be able to receive profits from the frozen €70 billion of the financial institution.

Bloomberg writes about this with reference to an anonymous source.

The Russian National Settlement Depository came under EU sanctions in 2022, when the bloc claimed that as the main custodian of Russian securities, the body allowed the Russian government to mobilize its resources to support the military effort.

EU judges ruled: the organization failed to prove that the European Union was wrong when it established the importance of the financial institution in the functioning of Russiaʼs financial system. The Russian national settlement depository can appeal the decision in the European Court.

With reference to its own anonymous source, Bloomberg writes that the depository has approximately €70 billion — they are kept in the Belgian financial company Euroclear. Profits from these assets have so far not been used to support Ukraine. However, a court decision can change this — a similar case was when the EU granted permission to use excess profits from frozen funds of the Central Bank of Russia.

• Euroclea currently holds €173 billion linked to Russian assets under sanctions.