The EU does not yet have a decision on the use of the frozen assets of Russia

At the moment, the European Union does not have a decision on the use of the frozen assets of Russia, reported RIA Novosti, citing a high-ranking European source in Brussels.

“Discussions on this issue are ongoing, both between EU members and with international partners, there are several options, but so far there is no decision on the use,” the agency’s source said.

January 27 Bloomberg, citing sources reportedthat the EU found legal grounds for using part of the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia for the restoration of Ukraine. According to the agency, we are talking about an amount of at least 33.8 billion euros, which are in the EU. According to the interlocutors, the lawyers of the European Commission said that the funds can be used under certain conditions. In particular, the assets must not be expropriated, which means that they will later have to be returned to Russia. In addition, only liquid Russian assets can be directed to the restoration of Ukraine, the sources add.

Commenting on information from Bloomberg sources about a mechanism that allows “legal” use of part of Russian assets in favor of Ukraine, Andriy Klishas, ​​head of the Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Construction of the Federation Council, stressed that there are no legal grounds for seizing these funds in the EU.

On the same day, the State Secretary of the Swiss Foreign Ministry Lillian Lay statedthat now the country has no legal grounds for transferring Russian assets frozen in the country to Ukraine. Prior to that, in an interview with Tages-Anzeiger, the head of the Swiss Foreign Affairs Department, Ignazio Cassis declaredthat the country is feeling pressure from the international community, which requires the involvement of all states in the process of transferring frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.

Last fall, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested create a structure for managing Russian assets. According to her, the blocked funds of the Russian Central Bank and the assets of Russian oligarchs confiscated due to sanctions should be combined into a fund, the funds of which should be invested, and the profit from these investments should be used for compensation payments to Ukraine. The head of the EC specified that Western countries blocked 300 billion euros of reserves of the Central Bank of Russia and 19 billion euros of private funds of Russian businessmen.