The main problem with the confiscation of frozen russian assets in favour of Ukraine is that there are currently no legal mechanisms to resolve the issue without losing the reputation of the countries that currently hold these assets. Otherwise, no one can guarantee that the sovereign assets of other states will be preserved.
This was stated by Yehor Chernev, the MP, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence, Head of the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to the NATO PA.
“Our argumentation is quite logical and reasonable: the russian federation violates international rules and conventions, so this gives our partners grounds to act in non-standard ways that are not yet included in international law. I hope that eventually a legal mechanism for asset confiscation will be found. A large number of our partners are working on this, as well as a team from Ukraine,” the politician said.
He added that the issue of our state receiving interest from frozen russian assets has also moved forward.
“As the head of the Polish government, Donald Tusk, said, if the EU makes the appropriate decision, Ukraine could receive up to 15 billion euros of interest accrued from the frozen assets of the russian federation every year. It is good that now, almost at the beginning of the third year of the full-scale war, we have some progress in this direction. I hope that this year we will receive at least some of this money,” the MP said.
According to him, the main holders of frozen assets in Europe are Belgium and Luxembourg, and it is these states that should make the decision. On the other hand, the EU can develop a legal framework to help sovereign countries do so.