The European Commission (EC) has come to the conclusion that the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank must be returned after the end of the conflict in Ukraine. On this subject writing Die Welt with reference to the CE document.
The EU was planning to send the frozen Central Bank assets to help Ukraine, but their exact whereabouts are unclear. Tracking Russian reserves abroad is very difficult, sources close to the EU plans told the publication.
The European Commission has considered the possibility of imposing a fine on EU countries that do not promptly provide information on the whereabouts of Russian assets, but more than ten states have opposed the idea.
According to Die Welt, the European Commission is considering investing the Central Bank’s frozen assets in European government bonds with a yield of 2.6% per year as a legally possible “emergency measure”. In the “worst extreme scenario”, the European Commission does not exclude the loss of 4 billion euros, but it is still unclear what to do in this case, writes the newspaper.
The situation for the assets of Russian businessmen who fell under the sanctions is not easy either, says Die Welt. Even if these assets can be traced and frozen, they will only be confiscated if the investigation proves that the billionaires committed a crime. The EU will have to take each case to court, which could take years.
Since the start of the military operation in Ukraine, the EU, US and other Western countries have frozen about $300 billion in Central Bank reserves. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the country’s reserves for this amount “are now in a state in which we cannot use them.” Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed This is theft”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has offered to send frozen Russian assets to help restore Ukraine. In January, Bloomberg wrote that the legal service of the Council of the EU had found legal grounds for this.
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