Ukraine receives first funds from the UK from frozen Russian assets
7 March 16:26
Ukraine has received the first funds from the United Kingdom, secured by proceeds from frozen Russian assets.
This was announced by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, reports Komersant ukrainskyi.
“Today we have received 752 million pounds as part of the G7 ERA initiative (Revenue Acceleration Loans for Ukraine). The funds will be used to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities,” Shmyhal said.
He thanked the UK government and our G7 partners for the mechanism that makes Russian funds work for Ukraine.
“We expect that all sovereign assets of the Russian Federation will be confiscated in the future and transferred to our country,” the Prime Minister said.
In February, Reuters reported that Russia would not mind if its frozen assets were used to rebuild Ukraine, including the occupied territories.
What is known about Russia’s frozen assets?
In response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU froze Russian assets in Europe. According to media reports, these are assets worth about $300 billion.
The profits from these assets were decided to be used to help Ukraine. Thus, the leaders of the Group of Seven agreed on a $50 billion loan to Ukraine, which will be repaid from these profits.
In February 2024, the EU Council decided that central securities depositories that hold assets and reserves of the Central Bank of Russia worth more than one million euros that were frozen by sanctions must set aside emergency cash balances and cannot dispose of subsequent net income.
In May, the EU Council adopted a number of legal acts that allow these net revenues to be used in favor of Ukraine. Thus, at the end of 2024, Ukraine received $1 billion from the United States from frozen Russian assets.
