The authors of the letter want to distribute the legal and financial risks among EU member states. The proposed mechanism does not imply formal confiscation: the assets are to remain in the existing financial infrastructure.
Of the 210 billion euros in Russian assets frozen in the European Union, more than 180 billion euros are held in Belgium, in the Euroclear depository, which is partially controlled by the Belgian state. Belgium had previously opposed the use of these funds, citing legal and financial risks, after which the EU decided to provide Kyiv with a 90 billion euro loan.
The project also provides for guarantees under which the EU undertakes to compensate member states, financial infrastructures, and depositories for any losses and costs, including expenses due to Russia’s retaliatory measures. Euroclear, as Les Échos writes, emphasizes that not only the frozen assets but also the liabilities associated with them must be taken into account.
On September 22, the press bureau of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service reported that, at the expert level, the European Union is developing proposals to create a new structure for transferring assets from Euroclear. On September 11, the European Commission resumed discussions on ways to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, and on August 15 it became known that their transfer from Euroclear to a new EU depository structure was being discussed. On September 24, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the European Union’s decision to hand over the income from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine is theft.
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