The European Union is looking for a way to transfer an additional €2-3 billion to Ukraine per year. For this, EU countries can freeze Russian assets — both private and state, for example, the assets of the Central Bank of Russia.
European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said this on the sidelines of the "Restoring Justice for Ukraine" conference.
Income from these assets can be taxed and sent to Ukraine, as Belgium is already doing.
"We set aside all the income, which is approximately €2-3 billion per year. The Commission offered all EU member states to transfer these revenues to the EU budget, and then to send funds from this budget to Ukraine," he added. In the coming weeks, it will become clear whether EU countries have agreed to this.
The European Commissioner added that the frozen Russian assets are a guarantee that there will be enough funds to compensate for the damage caused by Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"Thatʼs why we are working step by step: first the claims and the loss register to receive applications, then we will create a compensation commission that will decide which claims can be taken into account. And then, of course, funding," said the European Commissioner.
Reinders noted that they are currently discussing the possibility of taking a part of Russian revenues to finance military support for Ukraine.
- The value of frozen Russian sovereign assets in the EU is almost €211 billion. In total, the European Union, the G7 countries and Australia have frozen approximately €260 billion in securities and cash.
- In March, Bloomberg wrote that the EU has prepared legislation that will allow Ukraine to transfer profits from frozen Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine in July. This would allow the use of approximately €3 billion per year to finance weapons. We are talking about profits received after February 15, 2024.