Ukraine is nervous due to delays in payment of $ 50 billion from frozen assets of the Russian Federation - Bloomberg
These funds should be received to Kiev by the end of the year in accordance with the Great Seven agreement reached in June. It envisages a syndiced loan that will be repaid at the expense of profit received over time from frozen Russian funds worth about $ 280 billion.
But the implementation of the plan was complicated by the US requirements and the risk that Hungary would slow down any pan-European decision to support Ukraine or sanctions against Russia, according to people who spoke on the conditions of anonymity, since negotiations occur behind closed door. Financing will provide essential support to Ukraine, as the full -scale war has been lasting 2. 5 years.
Ukrainian forces are trying hard to stop the grueling offensive of Russia in the East, while throwing resources to the new front in the Kursk region. Although the temporary framework of the G7 agreement extends by the end of the year, Ukraine will need a decision in September, when the overview of funding by the International Monetary Fund will entail guarantees that Kyiv's budgetary requirements will be fulfilled, one of the people aware of the people's situation said. "We need a real mechanism.
The relevant discussions last too long, and we finally need decisions," President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently said. Allies of Ukraine froze the assets of the Central Bank of Russia, most of which are in Europe, after the invasion of the Kremlin troops in February 2022, and the event demanded that the funds be used to compensate for damage and assistance in the restoration of Ukraine after the war.
The implementation of the G7 agreement has encountered the problem because of the US fears that the EU needs to continue freezing assets every six months, as well as broader sanctions against Moscow. The United States has invited more reliable guarantees that would soften the fears of Presidential Administration Joe Biden about signing a loan without approval of Congress.
A high -ranking official Baiden administration, who asked not to name him, said that the US wanted to receive from the Allies the assurance that Russian assets would remain stationary until a fair peace agreement is reached and Russia would not pay for the damage caused by the invasion. If this happens, the official said, the US is sure that money can start distributing by the end of the year. Last month, the EU presented two options for freezing assets for a longer period.
A block of 27 members has not yet been able to fix the agreement - and some officials are skeptical of the decision will be found in view of the track record of Hungary, which blocked the efforts to renew sanctions for more than six months. Some officials claim that the EU and G7's constant obligation to freeze the funds until Russia agrees to pay the damage to Ukraine and should dispel the US fears.
The European Commission's representative said that the work is ongoing and further discussions will be needed to be restored in the coming weeks. The representative of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a comment request. According to another source, the funds of the central bank will probably be a priority for EU diplomats, as official Brussels returns from summer holidays. This issue is already in the center of attention in the latest political struggle in Germany.
Rejecting the report that Berlin had restricted Ukraine's military funding over the funds already allocated during the budgetary negotiations, Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that Germany would continue to assist and pointed to the G7 agreement as a major new source of financing. The German politician stated that the agreement was "technically complicated but politically clarified. " It is estimated that the central bank's revenue will be up to 5 billion euros ($ 5.
6 billion) a year - and each G7 member will be responsible for covering its share of loans if the assets are thawed. The G7 Pact provides that the EU and the US will provide loans worth about $ 20 billion or more, and the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan will contribute to smaller loans. According to the results of the first half of the year, as of June, about € 173 billion of euros sanctioned assets are stored in the Belgian Cleric Chamber of Euroclear.
The EU separately agreed to give Kiev a profit from these funds, with an initial contribution of 1. 6 billion euros released at the end of July. Since their immobilization, the funds have earned about 3. 4 billion euros, although the profit received by February 15 will be kept by EuroClear as a buffer to cover current and future risks, such as litigation. We will remind, earlier Focus wrote that Hungary is not the only obstacle to receiving payments from frozen assets of the Russian Federation.