Money for the war: why in Europe are afraid to give $ 300 billion Russian money - Reuters

Instead of confiscating frozen Russian assets and transferring them to Ukraine, the European Union will only share the profits received from assets and will not touch the principal amount. Due to the full -scale invasion of Russia, Ukraine continues to receive tremendous financial losses. Material losses from the first year of the war, according to the World Bank, are estimated at over $ 411 billion.

But the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continues to attack Ukraine, and in Europe, meanwhile, they continue to discuss how to transfer $ 300 billion to Russian assets to the Ukrainian government. And it seems that European officials are still very far from resolving this issue. This was written on January 23 by Reuters.

"The confiscation of Russian assets and their transfer to Kiev would weaken the pressure west on financing the military efforts of Ukraine, but European officials reject this idea as too risky from a legal point of view," the publication said. Journalists remind that in the European Union, the US, Japan and Canada there are about $ 300 billion of assets of the Russian Central Bank. The funds were frozen after Russia began a full -scale war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

It is noted that nearly $ 200 billion from these funds are stored in Europe, mainly at the Belgian Cleric Center of the EuroClear. At the same time, one high -ranking official anonymously told reporters that the European Union will not be able to confiscate assets of the Russian Federation, so you should not expect that the block will take some steps. "There is no agreement between the EU Member States," he said.

In Europe, in particular, they doubt that they will find legitimate grounds for such unprecedented assets. There are also fears that such actions are stability of the European currency - investors can pick up assets in the euro, fearing that once their money can also be confiscated. It worries European officials and the promises of Moscow to confiscate Western assets in Russia, which, according to preliminary information, amount to $ 288 billion.

In addition, the Belgian Culture Center of the EuroClear has "significant" assets in Russia. Assets confiscation will destroy the financial stability of the clearing center, which provokes serious consequences. "Euroclear manages trillions, and its bankruptcy would cost much more than the EU budget. We have to balance the risk and profit," Reuters said one of the officials.