“The European Union is assessing the legal and financial consequences of confiscating the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia for their use in favor of Ukraine.”, — write: epravda.com.ua
The European Union is assessing the legal and financial consequences of confiscating the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia for their use in favor of Ukraine. This is reported by the Bloomberg agency with reference to sources. The EU diplomatic service and individual member states are considering whether court orders are needed as a legal basis for the seizure of frozen assets, or whether damage calculations will suffice. Amid the risk that Donald Trump could cut or cut off aid to Ukraine if he becomes US president, some EU countries are trying to reopen discussions about using frozen Russian assets more fully.Advertisement: However, several member states, including Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, remain very alarmed by the idea of confiscation. Today, the EU and the Group of Seven (G7) countries are using the proceeds from about $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to provide aid to Ukraine. Under the G7 plan, Ukraine’s allies have approved a mechanism by which those profits underpin a 50 billion euro ($52.5 billion) loan package for Kyiv.Advertisement: A decision to confiscate that money and hand it over to Ukraine would be a significant departure from the current approach. Some EU member states are now analyzing what impact such a move could have on the euro as a currency. They also assess the possible consequences of third countries deciding to withdraw their assets from countries initiating such withdrawals. EU foreign ministers discussed the idea at a meeting in Brussels on Monday. The issue could be raised again at Thursday’s summit of EU leaders in Brussels, where the Baltic states and Sweden will push for creative ways to better use frozen Russian assets, the sources said. We will remind: the EU Court refused to remove sanctions from the Russian National Settlement Depository (NRD), the amount of its frozen assets is close to 70 billion euros.