Profits from the Bank of Russia’s assets frozen in the EU countries will become available for sending to Ukraine from July 2024, the European Commission reported in a press release.
The day before, the EU Council approved the use of most of the proceeds from the blocked Russian assets to assist the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The European Commission press release said:
The resources will be available to support Ukraine starting from July 2024 with biannual payments.
The Special Commission will review the allocation of funds annually. The first revision will take place on 1 January 2025.
90 per cent of the profits generated in 2024 would go towards military aid supplies through the European Peace Facility. Ukraine could receive €3bn of these funds in 2024. Another 10% will flow to the EU budget for further distribution under the Ukraine Facility, a long-term aid programme for Ukraine, including its reconstruction and rehabilitation after the end of hostilities.
According to the EU plans, Ukraine will receive net proceeds from assets received by European depositaries from 15 February 2024. Since that day, frozen Russian assets worth around €159bn have generated €557m in profits since that day, according to Belgian depositary Euroclear’s first-quarter accounts.
The EU and G7 countries have frozen about $280bn of Bank of Russia assets in cash and securities since the military conflict in Ukraine began in February 2022. Most of them are held at Belgium’s Euroclear.
