BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) – According to Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the use of proceeds from Russian state assets fixed in Europe could bring in around three billion euros a year for Ukraine. According to information from the Commission at the end of May, assets and reserves of the Russian central bank worth more than 200 billion euros are currently blocked in the EU. Of these, 90 percent are frozen in Belgium, said De Croo on Friday in Brussels after a meeting with the EU heads of state and government. According to De Croo, the proceeds from the blocked assets, for example through taxes or interest, are estimated at three billion per year.
The freeze on the assets of the Russian central bank is a result of sanctions imposed last year. Thus, all transactions related to the management of reserves and assets of the Central Bank of Russia were prohibited. As a result, the Central Bank of Russia no longer has access to its assets held with central banks and private institutions in the EU.
Last week, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced that her agency wanted to present a plan before the summer break on how the EU would use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
It is important to strike a balance between Russia’s obligation to pay for the damage caused by Moscow in Ukraine and financial market stability, De Croo said.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Brussels on Friday that the use of frozen Russian assets was “terribly complicated”. “No one currently knows what is possible and how.” The EU heads of state and government had asked the Commission to continue “racking their heads” and to inform him and his EU colleagues again at a later date. According to the World Bank, the cost of reconstruction in Ukraine has risen to over $400 billion./red/DP/stw