European Commission seeks to use additional €25bn of Russian assets for reparation loan – Politico

The European Commission is considering the idea of using not only €140 billion of frozen Russian assets held in a financial repository in Belgium but also an additional €25 billion from private Russian accounts in various countries for a reparations loan to Ukraine.

As reported by Politico, the proposal involves raising an extra €25 billion for the reparations loan to Ukraine, namely from private accounts of sanctioned Russians in institutions across different EU countries, in addition to the Russian assets stored in Euroclear.

A document reportedly sent by the European Commission to capitals ahead of a meeting of ambassadors on 17 October noted that "it should be considered whether the Reparations Loan initiative could be extended to other immobilised assets within the EU" and stated that the legal aspects have not yet been fully assessed, but this needs to be done before moving the issue forward.

The document also outlined the general principles of the reparations loan to Ukraine, which need to be discussed ahead of the EU summit in Brussels next week.

It is expected that EU leaders will discuss the initiative in detail at the summit and ask the European Commission to submit a corresponding proposal.

The EU Defence Roadmap presented by the European Commission on 16 October stated that the reparations loan should be agreed by the end of 2025.

Ukraine has been identified as a key component of the EU's defence readiness.