The European Commission is seeking to speed up the approval of a mechanism that will allow the use of profits from Russia’s frozen sovereign assets so that Ukraine can receive the first tranche of up to three billion euros as early as July this year, the Financial Times reports.
According to a draft European Commission document seen by the Financial Times, the EU could appropriate 97% of the net profit earned from Russian assets frozen in Euroclear and transfer it to the EU budget.
Further, according to the draft, this money would be paid quarterly or twice a year and “could be used for the benefit of Ukraine in accordance with various agreements.”
This mechanism will not apply to the almost €4 billion that Euroclear has already accumulated from the use of frozen Russian assets. According to the publication, they are planned to be used primarily to cover legal costs associated with Russia’s claims against the EU.
The proposal, which should be ready for the EU summit next week, still needs final approval from the European Commission and support from EU member states.
If approved, the first tranche of the proceeds from the frozen royalties could be released as early as July. According to FT sources, depending on interest rates, it could be between €2 and €3 billion.
The FT’s sources say that the European Commission is preparing a plan to confiscate profits from the rosary assets frozen in the Euroclear depository (their value is estimated at 190 billion euros) starting in February this year.
As The Gaze previously reported, United Kingdom is prepared to release all frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank in the country to Ukraine on the condition that they are returned when Russia is compelled to pay reparations to Ukraine after the end of the war.
Source: The Gaze
