On Tuesday 17 October in Luxembourg, European finance ministers discussed the issue of mobilising frozen Russian public assets in the European Union to help rebuild Ukraine, which is in the grip of Russian military aggression.
The Spanish minister, Nadia Calviño, felt that the recent declaration by the G7 countries was an important “development” that should be incorporated into the work of the European Union, where most of the frozen Russian public assets are located, i.e. around “$280 billion”.
“The G7 has said loud and clear that it supports the efforts underway in various jurisdictions to ensure that Russia pays for the impact of its aggression” against Ukraine, noted Ms Calviño. It also refers to the importance of “legal certainty” in order to be able to move forward, she added.
In their communiqué adopted on Thursday 12 October in Marrakech, the G7 finance ministers intend to examine “how any extraordinary revenues held by private entities stemming directly from immobilized Russian sovereign assets, where those extraordinary revenues are not required to meet obligations towards Russia under applicable laws, could be directed to support Ukraine and its recovery and reconstruction in compliance with applicable laws”.
See the G7 press release: https://aeur.eu/f/92t
On Tuesday, the French minister, Bruno Le Maire, outlined a “method [...] to isolate Russian frozen assets, so that we have a clear view of the total amount of the Russian foreign assets. The second point is to have control on the revenues of the frozen assets [...]. My third point in the method is, of course, to stick to all legal international commitments”, he specified. In his view, this third element is essential to “maintain and strengthen the credibility of the eurozone”.
According to a source in the Ministry of Finance, the annual income from frozen Russian public assets amounts to “€6 billion”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)