About $300 billion in assets of the Russian Central Bank have been frozen by Western countries supporting Ukraine as part of sanctions against Russia.
The West will not return any of Russia's sovereign assets frozen as part of sanctions related to the conflict in Ukraine, Reuters quoted the CEO of Russian bank VTB, Andrey Kostin, as predicting.
The US and its allies have frozen about $300 billion in assets belonging to the Russian Central Bank since 2022 as part of sanctions related to Ukraine. Deposits at the Brussels-based payments company Euroclear have generated billions of dollars in interest, and the EU has decided to use that money to finance Ukraine.
“In the West, they say, let's pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine from interest. And they issue invoices that even the interest will not be enough,” said Mr. Kostin, CEO of Russia's second-largest bank.
The new President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, said the EU will continue to provide economic and military aid to Ukraine in 2025, using the interest accrued on frozen Russian funds.
“Starting next month, we plan to provide 1.5 billion euros ($1.58 billion) per month throughout the year to Ukraine. This money comes from the interest earned on frozen Russian assets and can also be used for military purposes,” Costa said during a visit to Kiev on the first day of his term.
Earlier this year, the EU decided to provide Ukraine with a portion of the interest it earns on its Russian assets. In July, the European Commission announced that it would allocate €1.5 billion to Kiev, mostly for arms, as the first tranche of aid. The second tranche, expected to be worth €1.9 billion, could be disbursed next spring.
In October, the European Parliament also approved a loan of up to 35 billion euros to Ukraine, financed by future interest on frozen Russian assets. The loan is part of the EU’s part of a package agreed by the G7 in June to provide Kiev with up to $50 billion in financial assistance.
About 210 billion euros of assets belonging to the Russian Central Bank are held in the EU. The US has not yet disclosed how much it holds. According to Reuters calculations, Russia had $67 billion in assets in the US at the beginning of 2022.
Russia has repeatedly accused the West of “stealing” its money. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov warned in October that Moscow would respond in kind to the West’s use of profits from its frozen assets. Last month, he said Moscow would use profits from the assets of Western investors frozen in Russia.
While the Finance Minister did not elaborate on the amount of Western assets currently held in Russia, previous calculations by RIA Novosti put the figure roughly on par with the size of Russian funds frozen abroad.
