EU aims to generate 3B euro annually from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine

The European Union expects to harvest 3 billion euros a year from frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said following the first day of the EU summit in Brussels last night, Report informs referring to TASS.

"Belgium is very much involved in this issue, as 90% of the assets were frozen here. We are focused on extra proceeds. We are speaking of 3 billion euros a year that we could release," he said, as he emphasized that "the way of obtaining the money should be legally stable."

The European Commission has said it is contemplating managing frozen Russian assets to generate revenues that could be spent on Ukraine, while giving a guarantee that the basic sum may be returned to Russia, the Financial Times reported. However, the plan could stir up legal or financial risks, the newspaper warned.

According to the European Commission, some 200 billion euros worth of Central Bank of Russia assets and private funds to the tune of around 24 billion euros were immobilized.