“EU leaders have intensified the discussion of the use of frozen assets of the Russian Federation to assist Ukraine, but there are technical issues that require regulation”, – WRITE: www.radiosvoboda.org
“As for frozen assets, we had discussed yesterday, which were fruitful as well. There are some technical issues that need to be resolved. But I am sure that we can do it, ”she said with President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky.
“Regarding reparations, it is absolutely obvious that there are a huge number of questions. I’m sure we will find the answers. At the same time, at a more political level – what is the alternative to this? Because, unfortunately, we have not been able to put an end to this war – we want peace, Russia does not want it. Providing the army requires a lot of money, Ukraine will not be able to do it, so the rest of Europe must work. We need to look at Ukraine as the first line of defense. Therefore, we need to find ways of financing – if not, I have not heard other ideas, ”she said.
According to her, the next EU leaders should find answers to “all technical questions”. Denmark Prime Ministers believes that Europeans will be able to find solutions that will support all 27 Member States.
Also, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared on October 2 that he sees a strong consensus among European leaders to support the use of frozen assets to assist Ukraine. He expects a specific decision on this issue at the next summit of EU leaders, three weeks.
Read also: The new idea of using Russian frozen assets in Ukraine. What is the EU dilemma?
About $ 300 billion of sovereign Russian assets has been frozen in Europe. Most of these funds, approximately 190 billion euros, are stored in the Euroclear International Depository in Belgium. In the UK, approximately 30 billion euros of Russian assets have been frozen and 19 billion euros in France.
On October 1 at a meeting in Copenhagen, EU leaders discussed the idea of providing Ukraine with a reparation loan, however, according to the media, they did not reach consent.
According to Financial Times, Belgium requires to share the risks with other EU countries and to provide legal protection in case of claims by Moscow. France and Luxembourg also expressed fears of legal consequences.
The amount of cash accumulated through the bonds of the Russian Central Bank in the Belgian Central Depository of EuroClear is about 176 billion euros. Russia is not refunded in connection with the sanctions imposed by the European Union in response to its full -scale invasion of Ukraine. The idea of providing Ukraine with a reparation loan is to transfer this cash to the EU, which “will” conclude an individual debt contract with EuroClear under 0% per annum. ”
Brussels will use these funds to finance the loan to Ukraine, which she in turn will return only in the case of compensation for the damage caused to it by Russia. The Kremlin condemned this idea as “pure theft.”
On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in turn, signed a decree on a new order of sale of federal assets. According to Bloomberg, Russia is ready to nationalize and quickly sell foreign assets in response to a possible withdrawal of its funds abroad.