The Government of Estonia has approved an amendment to the Law on International Sanctions. Among other things, it provides for the use of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.
This was reported in the Estonian government.
"We must find ways to hold Russia financially accountable for the damage done to Ukraine. The draft law, which the government and I sent to the parliament today, makes it possible to use the frozen assets of authorized persons in Estonia to compensate for the damage caused by the war in Ukraine," said Prime Minister Kaya Kallas.
She believes that Estonia should be an example and a stimulus for other European countries.
"Russia must compensate Ukraine for all the damage caused by the war," Kallas stressed.
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia explained that an international agreement with Ukraine or an international compensation mechanism is necessary to apply the mechanism outlined in the draft law.
Who and how can transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine
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. Recently, the USA froze another $8 billion of Russian assets.
Currently, the United States and the European Union are looking for legal opportunities to use all $300 billion of frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukraine expects to receive $300-500 billion from such assets.
On September 7, the United States announced that, for the first time, it would transfer the confiscated assets of Russian oligarchs to Ukraine. We are talking about $5.4 million, which will go to support Ukrainian veterans. After that, Estonia announced that it plans to become the first country in the EU to transfer confiscated Russian assets (approximately €38 million) to Ukraine.