The European Commission announced the allocation of the first tranche of €1.5 billion ($1.63 billion) from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shared on X (formerly Twitter) on July 26.
“The EU supports Ukraine,” von der Leyen wrote. “Today we transfer €1.5 billion ($1.63 billion) of proceeds from immobilized Russian assets to the defense and reconstruction of Ukraine. There is no better symbol or use of the Kremlin’s money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live.”
Use of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine
For several months, Ukraine’s Western allies have been discussing how to use the profits from approximately $280 billion in frozen assets of the Russian central bank, most of which are located in Europe. Income from these assets is estimated at €3 to €5 billion ($3.28 to $5.47 billion) per year, Bloomberg reported.
In late May, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen mentioned that the G7 countries might provide Ukraine with a multi-billion dollar loan, using the interest received from $300 billion of frozen Russian assets.
Brent Neumann, assistant to the head of the U.S. Treasury Department for international finance, indicated in early June that the U.S. and its G7 partners were making progress on providing aid to Ukraine through proceeds from Russian assets.
The U.S. has been encouraging Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan to provide up to $50 billion in loans backed by proceeds from frozen assets in the short term, Reuters reported.
G7 leaders reached an agreement on the $50 billion transfer to Ukraine utilizing frozen Russian assets, according to an official statement from Paris on June 12.
Italian Economy and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti later noted that the European Union countries would provide up to 60% of the funds for the loan to Ukraine.
