Belgium proposes initiative to keep Russian assets immobilized
Photo: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Maxime Prévot (Getty Images)
Belgium is ready to help in launching an international initiative to hold frozen Russian assets, says Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Maxime Prévot, in an interview with Euractiv.
Today, the Euroclear clearinghouse holds the lion's share of Russian assets in Europe that are under sanctions. It is more than €180 billion ($202 billion).
Meanwhile, European Union diplomats expect Hungary to try to drop the measures against Russia by abstaining from voting on their extension.
In this case, the EU needs to have alternatives to continue keeping Russian assets frozen. Among the alternatives he proposed:
“We could have a new international framework initiative, which will force those assets to stay in Euroclear, or another alternative would be a national initiative of the Belgian parliament. We will identify whether it will be necessary or not to take this to our national law. I think it will be better to avoid this and really to offer an international framework with a strong legal basis,” Prévot explained.
He noted that in both cases Belgium would not be able to act alone.
Russia's frozen assets
After the outbreak of a full-scale war in Ukraine, Western countries froze about 300 billion of the Central Bank of Russia's assets. The funds were blocked as part of sanctions to limit Russia's ability to finance military aggression.
The assets remain frozen today. The EU has repeatedly stated that they will not be unblocked until Russia compensates Ukraine for the damage it has caused.
According to the head of the Ukrainian government, Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine received $1.13 billion under the ERA program on May 8. The funds were secured from the proceeds of frozen assets.
