Ukraine needs all frozen Russian assets for reconstruction, not just interest – Ministry of Justice

On Thursday, 9 November, Ukraine conveyed to its Western allies its hope of obtaining the frozen Russian assets in their entirety and that receiving only the interest accrued from them would not be sufficient to make up for the losses caused by the conflict.

Source: Iryna Mudra, Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Justice, said this to Reuters 

Details: Kyiv projects that US$400 billion, which it believes could double if compensation for the war's victims is taken into account, will be required to rebuild the country.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said the value of frozen Russian sovereign assets was about €211 billion (approx. US$223 billion). She also noted that the bloc decided that Russia should pay for the restoration of Ukraine.

Mudra, in a comment to Reuters, noted that Kyiv’s partners are considering the possibility of introducing a tax on the income or investment of frozen Russian assets. Ukraine welcomes this idea but considers it insufficient.

She added that there was "no alternative" to the decision on the complete confiscation of assets and their transfer to Ukraine.

"Yes, such a decision requires political will, and therefore it is especially dangerous if additional initiatives are considered a successful solution to all problems.

Any alternatives, no matter how sincere and noble they are, generate insufficient funds and can be solely as an intermediate and fast enough option to collect several billions for the immediate needs of Ukraine's reconstruction," she said.

Background: 

• EU leaders approved plans to use billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, and the European Commission is expected to put forward relevant legal proposals in early December.

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