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 frozen Russian sovereign assets as part of sanctions related to the conflict in Ukraine, Reuters quoted VTB Bank CEO Andrey Kostin as saying.
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 Brussels-based payment 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, lets pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine from the interest. And they make a bill that even the interest will not be enough, said Kostin, CEO of Russias 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 accumulated on frozen Russian money.
Starting next month, we plan to provide Ukraine with 1.5 billion euros ($1.58 billion) per month throughout the year. 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 earned on Russian assets. In July, the European Commission announced that it would allocate 1.5 billion euros to Kiev, mostly for weapons, as a first aid package. The second installment, expected to cost up to 1.9 billion euros, could be disbursed next spring.
In October, the European Parliament also approved a loan of up to 35 billion euros to Ukraine, using future interest from 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 in assets belonging to the Russian Central Bank are held in the EU. The US has not yet made public 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 retaliate similarly against the West's use of interest from its frozen assets. Last month, he said Moscow would use the profits from assets of Western investors frozen in Russia.
Although the Finance Minister did not specify the number of Western assets currently held in Russia, previous calculations by RIA Novosti put the figure close to the size of Russian funds frozen abroad.
