On February 12, the Council of the European Union adopted a decision opening the possibility of using profits from more than $250 billion of frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank to finance Ukraine's post-war reconstruction.
In an interview with Forbes, Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Justice, Iryna Mudra, said she expects Ukraine to receive a total of $15 billion to $18 billion in interest on frozen assets over the next four years, including about $4 billion in 2024.
Mudra said it had already been determined which institutions held the frozen assets, and the European Commission had already decided that all profits must be concentrated in one institution. The next stage is the implementation of EU legislation, which will allow these interests to be transferred to Ukraine.
"We have already held talks with the current Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union, and the Council is expected to adopt the decision by June 2024," Mudra said. If all goes well, then Ukraine will receive interest on assets frozen in 2024. ”
According to Mudra, Belgium** is considering providing Ukraine with the interest generated by the freezing of Russian assets in 2022 to pay for social expenses, provide humanitarian aid, etc., and this amount is about 1.7 billion euros. Interest on frozen assets for 2023 has not yet been treated, and if a 100% tax is imposed, the funds would be 4.4 billion euros.
According to Mudra, Ukraine's position is that this is additional funding and not part of the aid already approved by the EU. It is likely that international partners will not approve the use of these funds for defense spending, so they will be used to cover budget deficits, social payments, reconstruction projects, etc.