The amount lost by Russian oligarchs due to the Ukraine war is increasing. Will the money possibly be used for reconstruction?
Brussels – against the background of Ukraine conflict Russian oligarchs have lost access to luxury yachts, real estate and other assets worth about 10 billion euros. This is shown by figures from the EU Commission. At the beginning of April, the value was still 6.7 billion euros.
The EU Commission wants to present a legislative proposal this Wednesday (May 24) that should make it possible to confiscate frozen Russian money, for example from oligarchs. This money could then be used to rebuild Ukraine. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasized on Tuesday (May 23): “We should turn every stone for this – if possible also Russian assets that we have frozen.”
Ukraine war: could confiscated assets be used for reconstruction?
The EU has had quite a few since the start of the Ukraine war Russian oligarchs on the sanctions list set because they are accused of supporting the war. At the beginning of March, an EU special unit was set up to ensure better cooperation between EU countries and to track down the assets of the oligarchs.
A good month later, the first balance was drawn: the EU states had frozen assets of 29.5 billion euros by then – 6.7 billion euros came from the assets of oligarchs. Added to this were the frozen assets of the Russian central bank.
Germany is open to a discussion about using confiscated Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine, as Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) said on Tuesday (May 24). However, there are “guarantees for private assets” in our constitution. You have to make a distinction between frozen state funds – such as the Russian central bank – and make private funds. (dpa)
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