EU Agrees to Use Profits from Frozen Russian Assets for Ukraine's Recovery
The European Union ambassadors reached an agreement on January 29 to utilize profits from frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine. This was announced by the representation of Belgium, the current EU presidency, on Twitter.
"EU ambassadors have just reached a principled agreement on the proposal to use surplus associated with frozen assets to support Ukraine's recovery," the statement said.
Earlier, it was reported that the EU planned to impose a tax on the windfall from frozen assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, but was not ready to proceed directly to confiscation of funds. On January 16, Belgium's Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem stated that technical work on implementing the proposal to use frozen Russian assets in the interests of Ukraine had begun within the European Union. On January 22, EU foreign ministers approved this proposal and forwarded it for consideration to the bloc's ambassadors.
It's worth noting that the issue of confiscating Russian assets has long been on the agenda of various countries. In April 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that envisages the confiscation of frozen assets of Russian sanctioned legal and physical entities. The seized funds are proposed to be used for providing additional military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
On June 24, 2022, the Canadian Senate approved a bill that allows for the confiscation of Russian assets.
On November 18, 2022, the European Union froze 68 billion euros of Russian assets, according to an internal document of the European Commission.
In July 2023, it was reported that the leaders of the European Union support plans to introduce a tax on income received from frozen assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, amounting to over 200 billion euros, to assist in Ukraine's recovery.
In October 2023, the Estonian government approved an amendment to the law on international sanctions, which, among other things, involves using frozen Russian assets to compensate for the losses inflicted on Ukraine during the war.
On November 30, 2023, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal announced that a bill to seize frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine's recovery had been submitted to the United States Congress.
In late December 2023, the United States proposed a plan to the Group of Seven (G7) for the confiscation of Russian assets worth $300 billion.