European Union Freezes Over EUR 200 Billion Of Assets Of Central Bank Of Russia: They Can Be Transferred To Ukraine

The European Union has frozen the assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in the amount of more than EUR 200 billion, reports Bloomberg with reference to the representative of the European Commission, Christian Wiegand.

The EU has also frozen EUR 24.1 billion belonging to individuals and legal entities that have come under sanctions. Wiegand noted that the European Union is going to ensure that Russia pays for the damage caused to Ukraine during hostilities. He added that the EU is now studying the means of using the blocked assets. More concrete proposals will be discussed at the summit in June.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, made a proposal to use frozen Russian assets to restore Ukraine as early as autumn 2022. In May 2023, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, made a similar proposal. Currently, a special working group is studying this topic in the European Union. It should determine what means of using Russian assets exist in accordance with EU legislation.