Ukraine will get frozen Russian assets sooner or later, says NBU Governor

"We hear from senior leadership of the European Commission, even from some central bankers, and we don't take these matters lightly, from some colleagues in the Baltic countries that frozen assets should gradually be considered as an appropriate source of financing for Ukraine," Pyshnyy said.

NBU Governor reminded that there is also debate within the EU about possible risks of this political decision, namely, that transferring these assets to Ukraine could undermine the euro's global role as a reserve currency.

"Our view is different - the euro is in no way threatened, these assets are already frozen (we covered this topic in detail in the April Inflation Report). The Russian Federation has long acted aggressively toward European business and its assets on Russian territory, engaging in nationalization and expropriation," added Pyshnyy.

Problems with confiscating Russian assets

Ukraine has long insisted on confiscating Russian assets as compensation for damage caused by the full-scale invasion. Kyiv believes that the frozen funds of the Russian Central Bank should belong to Ukraine.

At the same time, within the European Union, where most of these assets are held, not everyone supports such a decision. In March, Deutsche Welle reported that the EU would not confiscate frozen Russian assets due to opposition from several countries.

The biggest opponents of confiscating Russian assets in Europe are Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy. Each has its own interests, masked by excuses about the lack of legal mechanisms. For example, most of Russia's frozen assets are held in the Belgian depository Euroclear.

Opposing the countries of "old Europe" are Poland, the Baltic states, Scandinavia, and several Central European countries. They believe that the assets should be confiscated and fully transferred to Ukraine.