The European Commissioner named the amount of Russia’s assets frozen in the EU

The amount of frozen Russian assets in the EU after the start of the military operation in Ukraine is 207 billion euros, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said at a press conference in The Hague.

“The European Commission is discussing the possibility of using the proceeds from Russian assets in the amount of 207 billion euros, which were frozen in Europe, including the assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, to finance the restoration of Ukraine,” said the Commissioner (quote according to TASS).

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, Western countries blocked, as reported by the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, 300 billion euros of reserves of the Central Bank of Russia and 19 billion euros of private funds of Russian businessmen.

June 21 Bloomberg citing EU report informedthat the union did not find legal grounds for the complete confiscation of the frozen assets of the Russian Federation. It was noted that the EU is considering several options for using more than 200 billion euros of assets of the Bank of Russia in order to send them to Ukraine.

In the summer of 2022, the President of the Russian Federation signed a law that allows sanctioned banks to reorganize in order to spin off a new legal entity to which the frozen assets are transferred. Settlements with foreign clients are supposed to be carried out through a new structure. Banks could use this right until July 1. On May 26 of this year, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Olga Polyakova said that one systemically important bank had already separated blocked assets into a separate legal entity. Which bank went through this procedure, she did not specify.