Brussels will offer to use Russian assets frozen in the EU to restore Ukraine

Brussels will soon offer to use the profits from more than €200 billion of assets of the Russian central bank, frozen in the EU, to restore Ukraine.

This was stated by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, writes Politico.

"We will come out with this proposal before the summer break," she noted.

According to Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, this is legally very difficult, so there will be discussions with EU member states, but he hopes to resolve the issue.

Dombrovskis emphasized that, on the one hand, this is a matter of international law, since Russia, as an aggressor, is responsible for paying for the damages it has caused, but, on the other hand, it is also a matter of EU taxpayersʼ money.

"The more we direct Russian assets to the restoration of Ukraine, the less EU funding is needed," he explained.

• Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the EU has frozen the assets of the Russian Central Bank for more than €200 billion. A significant part of these funds is kept in the Euroclear depository and has already brought almost €750 million in profit in the first quarter of 2023. In addition, the EU has frozen €24.1 billion in assets belonging to Russians and Russian companies under sanctions.
• At the same time, Bloomberg, referring to the relevant document, writes that the European Union cannot legally completely confiscate the frozen Russian assets and instead focused on the temporary use of these assets.