EU Considers Rebuilding Ukraine Using Frozen Russian Assets

The current rotating presidency of the European Union, Sweden, announced on February 14th that it will establish an EU working group to look into ways of using frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson pointed out, “In principle, it is clear-cut: Russia must pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine,” the Swedish Prime Minister said, “At the same time, this poses difficult questions. This must be done in accordance with EU and international law, and there is currently no direct model for this.” The working group will conduct “legal, financial, economic and political analysis” of the possibility of using frozen Russian assets,” the Swedish government said in a statement Tuesday.The group will have a clearer understanding of the location and total value of Russian state-owned assets and this work will be carried out in close cooperation with the freezing and confiscation working group led by the European Commission. These frozen assets must be used as soon as possible, and it is too late to wait for this action until the end of the war and the signing of a peace agreement, Poland and the Baltic states emphasized. Frozen assets should be used to cover the costs of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including supporting displaced persons in Ukraine and helping with Ukrainian further reconstruction. The EU estimates that the Russian central bank’s overseas frozen assets could be as high as 300 billion USD, of which up to 33.8 billion Euro may be located within the EU. Previously, US Attorney General Garland announced on February 3rd that funds seized from Russian oligarchs will be transferred to Ukraine to provide further assistance to the country and to remedy the damage caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.