EU countries are looking for a solution that would allow them to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said in an interview with Il Sole 24 Ore.
“I have no doubt that we will find a viable solution from a financial, legal and technical point of view“, he said.
The Financial Times reported that Paris does not support the idea of using Russian assets frozen in French commercial banks to support Kiev. According to the publication, France is under pressure from the EU to hide information about the credit institutions where the frozen funds are held, as well as how the accrued interest is used. The amount in question is 18 billion euros.
Against this background, Lescure said: “It is necessary to ensure that all the issues raised are resolved from a technical, financial and legal point of view.“
In early December, the European Commission proposed two options for financing Ukraine to EU countries: borrowing funds guaranteed by the European budget and granting a “reparation loan“ of 210 billion euros from frozen Russian assets. Since the start of hostilities in Ukraine, assets worth approximately 260 billion euros have been frozen in Western countries, the majority of which are stored in the Belgian depository Euroclear.
On December 11, European countries adopted an emergency measure to impose an indefinite freeze on Russian assets (previously, the freeze had to be renewed every six months). The French Foreign Ministry said the asset freeze would remain in place “for as long as necessary.”
Belgium, Italy, Malta and Bulgaria oppose an EU plan to send frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.
Russia has promised serious consequences and is preparing retaliatory measures. On December 12, the Russian Central Bank announced that it was filing a lawsuit against the depository Euroclear. The Central Bank of Russia said the damages amounted to the amount of frozen funds belonging to the regulator, the value of the frozen securities and lost profits.