EU proposal on using frozen russian funds delayed to September

A European Commission proposal to use frozen public russian assets to help finance Ukraine will not be published until September, a spokesman said on Thursday.

A proposal was initially expected before August.

The spokesman added that the EU was working on an agreement with the G7 countries on how to move forward and a statement was expected this month. G7 countries and the EU have frozen over 300 billion euros ($335.55 billion) combined.

Support for the use of the plan is great news, as EU countries hold the largest share of frozen russian assets - about 200 billion euros. However, the postponement of the meeting shows that there is no consolidated position on the use of Euroclear funds yet, but active work on this is ongoing, which gives hope for a positive outcome.

Previously, even the transfer of profits was a taboo topic due to "legal obstacles." Ukraine could receive from 3 to 10 billion dollars annually. However, there are no less legal restrictions. 

The main concern is that Western partners will limit themselves to this, giving Ukraine a few billion annually, which looks insignificant against the background of 411 billion in losses. We believe that this is an excellent first step that can turn the tide toward recovering the aggressor's assets.

Source: Reuters