In the summer, Ukraine may receive interest on russian sovereign assets seized in the EU and on transactions carried out by the depositary with these assets. We are talking about the amount of 3 to 4 billion euros. At the same time, Ukrainian diplomats have been working since the beginning of the full-scale invasion to confiscate all frozen assets of the russian central bank.
This was stated by Roksolana Pidlasa, the MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget.
“The European Commission is currently working on a proposal, which must be approved by all EU member states, to use the interest from the seized russian funds for Ukraine. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen made a revolutionary statement, saying that the money should be used to purchase weapons. This is a breakthrough idea, because since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the only thing that has been discussed is the use of frozen russian assets for the rapid reconstruction of Ukraine and the restoration of infrastructure,” the MP said.
According to her, even if the funds are used to purchase weapons, this must be agreed upon by the leaders of all EU member states.
The MP stressed that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian diplomats have been trying to confiscate all the frozen assets of the russian central bank. And while there is no consensus within the EU on whether this can be done, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has proposed a more radical approach.
“The idea is that the UK government uses the frozen russian money as a deposit and either provides a direct loan to Ukraine from the government or places securities on the private market, attracting funds from private investors, which are then transferred to Ukraine. We can use this money either to replenish the budget or to purchase weapons, etc. After the war is over, the G7 countries and Ukraine will demand reparations from russia to repay this loan. If russia refuses to pay, the UK government will be able to recover the frozen assets in its favour,” explained Roksolana Pidlasa.
She added that David Cameron's proposal is more suitable for Ukraine. In addition, according to the British minister, the idea could be supported by other members of the Group of Seven, including the United States and Canada. These countries are more determined to confiscate russian assets.