Euroclear to channel €2 bln of proceeds from Russian assets into a fund for Ukraine in March

Ukraine will receive €2bn from Russia's frozen assets in March. This became known from the report of the Euroclear depositary, published on February 5 on the company's website.

There specified that the first payment to the European fund for the needs of Ukraine in the amount of € 1.55 billion was made in July 2024.

"The second payment is expected to take place in March 2025 and should be about €2 billion," - said in the message Euroclear.

The day before, European Commission (EC) chief Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union (EU) was working on the "most creative" use of Russia's frozen assets to provide aid to Ukraine.

Earlier, on January 24, Valery Urben, director-general of the Euroclear depositary, said that the confiscation of Russian assets could lead to "unintended consequences" for the EU. According to him, Russia may introduce retaliatory measures.

Before that, on January 10, the EU transferred €3bn to Ukraine in the form of a tranche of a loan from the Group of Seven (G7) against the proceeds from the reinvestment of frozen Russian assets. The initiative envisages a total of $50bn for Ukraine, $20bn of which is to be provided by the European Union.

On November 7 last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (term expired in May 2024) said that Russian assets are Ukrainian money.

Western countries stepped up military and financial support for Kiev against the backdrop of Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military. The EU soon approved the decision to freeze the assets of the Russian Central Bank.