The European Commission will present “very soon” the proposal to transfer the income from frozen Russian assets to the community budget and use them for the benefit of Ukraine as compensation for Russia’s aggression, which community sources estimate at around 3 billion annually.
“The work is ongoing and the proposal will be ready very soon,” the Economic Vice President of the Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, guaranteed this Tuesday at a press conference, adding that the Brussels plan will be discussed with the Twenty-Seven at the level of leaders. at the summit on March 21 and 22.
The Latvian politician has indicated that after the Council approved the proposal to confiscate extraordinary profits, the Community Executive considers that it has the “legal clarity” to allow its use, which is why it has committed to “taking the next step.”
Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the international community has been able to block around €260 billion in Russian Central Bank assets in the form of securities and cash in the jurisdictions of G7 partners, the EU and Australia, two-thirds of which are immobilized in the EU, which seeks to allocate them to the reconstruction of the country.
Dombrovskis has also confirmed that kyiv will receive 4.5 billion euros in loans at the end of March, as the first payment of the 50 billion euros in aid in four years and the only one that is not subject to conditions, which will be followed by another payment of 1.5 billion. in April.
“We are working closely with the Ukrainian authorities to finalize a plan that establishes investment priorities in the short and medium term,” he added.
Specifically, the Commission’s proposal is expected “this week or early next week,” according to Belgian Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, who holds the rotating presidency of the Council.
“The Member States await the Commission’s contribution to advance the use of these extraordinary benefits from frozen Russian assets at the end of this week,” agreed, for his part, the Minister of Economy, Business and Commerce, Carlos Body.
Asked about the possible use of these benefits in the military and defense sphere, Corps has stated that there has not been a decision regarding the specific use of the funds, but that it is the “previous step”, but that it already implies “no only separate them, but allocate them within the EU budget to Ukraine”.
Based on the Commission’s proposal, we will see the “best way” to channel these funds to help Ukraine, although the minister stressed that “it is not necessary to wait for the conflict to end to know that there are already urgent needs for reconstruction on the ground”.
