Russia loses EU case to unblock 70 billion euros: Benefits for Ukraine
Illustrative photo (Getty Images)
The Russian National Settlement Depository has lost its case to lift European Union sanctions imposed due to its role in financing the war. As a result, €70 billion may now be used to support Ukraine, according to Bloomberg.
The depository was sanctioned by the EU in 2022 when the bloc said that, as the primary custodian of Russian securities, the organization enabled the Russian government to mobilize resources to support military operations.
The NSD "failed to demonstrate" that the EU "erred in finding that that undertaking was a systemically important financial institution which played an essential role in the functioning of Russia’s financial system," EU judges ruled.
According to a source familiar with the situation, around €70 billion is currently frozen in Euroclear, the Belgian clearinghouse.
These assets are not yet being used to generate windfall profits transferred as financial support to Ukraine, but the court's decision could pave the way for their usage and the creation of additional revenues in the future, as the EU did with the Russian central bank’s assets, the source added.
A Euroclear representative confirmed that a windfall contribution to Ukraine would be made from Russian central bank assets starting on February 15, 2024.
Euroclear has made its first payment of €1.55 billion to the Ukraine aid fund. The clearinghouse holds €173 billion in assets linked to sanctioned Russian entities, including frozen central bank assets.
