European Commission Proposes Using Frozen Russian Assets to Benefit Ukraine
The European Commission proposed to EU member states the possibility of using assets frozen under the Russia sanctions regime to compensate Ukraine for damages incurred by the war with Russia, the commission announced Nov. 30.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The European Council in October requested that the commission present options for using frozen assets to reconstruct Ukraine. In response, the commission proposed setting up a structure to manage the frozen public funds, invest them and use the proceeds for benefitting Ukraine, then return Central Bank assets when sanctions are lifted. The commission said member states have frozen nearly $20 billion in assets belonging to Russian oligarchs, and around $314 billion of Russian Central Bank reserves are held in the EU and other G-7 countries.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen estimated the loss to Ukraine from the war totals over $629 billion, declaring Russia must compensate Ukraine for these damages. "In the short term, we could create, with our partners, a structure to manage these [frozen] funds and invest them. We would then use the proceeds for Ukraine," von der Leyen said. "And once the sanctions are lifted, these funds should be used so that Russia pays full compensation for the damages caused to Ukraine. We will work on an international agreement with our partners to make this possible. And together, we can find legal ways to get to it."