EU agreement to spend Russian assets in favor of Ukraine

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency quoting The Austrian newspaper “Di Presse” reported that the ambassadors of the European Union agreed that most of the income from the frozen assets of Russia should be spent on the defense of Ukraine.

EU ambassadors agreed in principle on Wednesday to allow blocked Russian revenues to flow to Ukraine’s defense sector, Belgium, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, announced on Wednesday. Accordingly, 90 percent of this money should go to the European Peace Facility for military support, and ten percent should go to the budget of the Ukrainian facility.

According to the report of the European Union Commission, about Billions of euros from the Russian Central Bank have been frozen in the European Union. The agreement of the ambassadors is supposed to be approved next week in the Council of Ministers of Economy and Finance of this union. The EU Commission plans to send the first funds to Ukraine by early July. The annual income of these assets is 2.5 to 3 billion euros. The European Commission presented its proposal to the EU summit in March. According to this proposal, 90% of this money should go to weapons and ammunition for Ukraine and 10% to defense industry and reconstruction of the country.

Also, the fourteenth package of sanctions Russia is on the agenda of the European ambassadors, who have predicted, among other things, a ban on the import of liquefied gas. Other organizations and individuals should be added to the sanctions list.

The European Union has frozen the funds of the Russian central bank – and they generate good income and profits every year. and both are out of reach for Moscow.

Thus, after long negotiations, the European Union wants the future benefits of these assets to equip Ukraine’s military used in the fight against Russia. This year alone, it is expected to collect three billion euros.

Of course, the negotiations were difficult because neutral countries like Austria did not want to do so. Participate directly in the procurement of weapons and ammunition. But now it has been agreed that part of the interest income will be used for other financial assistance. There is no expropriation by decision. One of the reasons for this is legal concerns and the possibility of retaliation from Russia. Earlier last year, Moscow warned the European Union not to confiscate the property of the Russian government or Russian citizens. For example, it can be imagined that in response to such an action, companies operating in Russia from EU countries will be forcibly confiscated. In addition, the direct use of Russian assets can lead to the loss of confidence of other countries and investors in the European financial center and the withdrawal of assets from the European Union. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has recently asked the European Union several times to accept these risks.

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