Germany rejects the European Unionʼs plan to transfer the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank to the reconstruction of Ukraine. Berlin fears legal and financial risks.
The Financial Times (FT) writes about it.
The European Commission is working to raise billions of euros by requiring financial institutions that have frozen Russian assets to hand over some of their profits and use them to rebuild Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Berlin believes that the idea of using Russian money to rebuild Ukraine raises "difficult financial and legal questions." This would set a precedent for others, particularly Poland, which would be able to demand reparations from Germany for the damage caused during World War II.
- 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, citing the relevant document, writes that the European Union cannot legally confiscate frozen Russian assets in full and instead focused on the temporary use of these assets.
- The government of Estonia approved the principles of using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. Estonia became the first European country to develop such a legal solution.
- Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal informed on February 24 that Ukraine claims $300-500 billion of frozen Russian assets.