EU urged to study confiscation of Russian assets

European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis called on the European Union (EU) to study the confiscation of Russian assets in the West. He said this in an interview with Bloomberg on December 20.

"We should certainly explore and work through all options," he said.

The European commissioner added that all options will be explored and that they must be "legally sound" to withstand prosecution while not risking financial stability.

"We already took an important step when we froze these assets and then there was the question of financial stability or the consequences for the euro," he said.

On December 17, Bloomberg, citing knowledgeable sources, reported that the European Union (EU) is assessing the legal and financial implications of confiscating the assets of the Central Bank (CB) of the Russian Federation to help Ukraine. It is noted that a number of states, including Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, are concerned about the idea of confiscation.

Prior to that, on December 11, the new head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU), Kaja Kallas, said that she doubted the balance of Russian assets that had been frozen by the West.

Earlier, in September this year, during a meeting of the European Parliament, Valdis Dombrovskis said that €1.4 billion of frozen Russian assets had already been used to buy weapons for Ukraine. Most of the supplies to Kiev should be realized by the end of the year.

According to the latest data, since February 2022, the G7 countries (G7), the EU and Australia have frozen €260 billion of Central Bank assets. Back in February, Liv Mostri, head of Euroclear's international platform in Belgium, noted that the transfer of proceeds from Russia's assets as aid to Ukraine was very close to indirect confiscation, which could have exactly the same impact on markets as a direct seizure.

Western countries have tightened sanctions pressure on Russia in connection with the special operation to protect Donbass. The decision to launch it was announced on February 24, 2022, after the aggravation of the situation in the region. Soon the EU approved the decision to freeze the assets of the Russian Central Bank.