Rich Russians will soon go to Ukraine

Ukraine can soon expect masses of money to come straight from the deep pockets of Putin’s wealthy friends. Brussels doesn’t just want to freeze their foreign assets, but want to take them away and transfer them to Kiev.

The European Commission expects to come up with proposals tomorrow. “And I will do everything I can to get the Member States to find out as soon as possible,” said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire this morning. “We must do everything we can to help Ukraine.” Le Maire is currently chairman of the board.

US President Biden also wants to confiscate the frozen foreign assets of wealthy Russian oligarchs in favor of Kiev. Formally, those assets — bank balances, businesses, real estate, luxury cars, yachts, and even private jets — are still owned by the oligarchs, and they’re just not currently able to freely dispose of them. That is no longer enough for Brussels and Washington. Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis confirmed this morning that the Commission is working on proposals and considering the legal basis. According to him, the money is intended for the reconstruction of the country, which will soon cost hundreds of billions.

Dombrovskis expects member states to vote this afternoon, chaired by Le Maire, on two other aid proposals from the Commission: one for 9 billion in macroeconomic aid to Ukraine, and one for duty-free imports for one year.

Tomorrow the Commission will also consider proposals to criminalize non-compliance with sanctions against Russia. This offers more opportunities to tackle infringers. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about gas companies opening accounts in rubles for the purchase of their Russian gas, while their contract prescribes payment in dollars or euros. Payment in rubles is then in violation of the sanctions regime.

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