Russia’s frozen assets are generating billions. The EU is getting ready to send them to Ukraine
CNN
Russian assets frozen in European accounts are generating billions of dollars in interest payments that could be diverted to help repair Ukraine’s war-torn economy — and the European Union just took a step closer to doing that.
Russian assets frozen in European accounts are generating billions of dollars in interest payments that could be diverted to help repair Ukraine’s war-torn economy — and the European Union just took a step closer to doing that. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries froze nearly half of Moscow’s foreign reserves — some €300 billion ($327 billion). Around €200 billion ($218 billion) sits in the European Union — mostly at Euroclear, a financial institution that keeps assets safe for banks, exchanges and investors. EU leaders agreed a crucial $50 billion funding package for Ukraine on Thursday and came closer to finalizing a plan to use the profits piling up in Euroclear’s accounts. In a statement issued at the end of a summit, EU leaders said “potential revenues could be generated … concerning the use of extraordinary revenues held by private entities stemming directly from the immobilised Central Bank of Russia assets.” Belgium-based Euroclear disclosed Thursday that it has earned €5.2 billion ($5.6 billion) in interest on income generated by sanctioned Russian assets since they were frozen by EU and Group of Seven countries in 2022. “The number of sanctions and countersanctions that have been introduced since February 2022 are unprecedented and continue to have a significant impact on the daily operations of Euroclear,” the group said in a statement.