Belgium to allocate €1.7 billion in taxes from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine
The Belgian government received €1.7 billion in taxes generated from Russian assets frozen in the country last year. The money will be used for assistance programmes for Ukraine.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Ukrinform.
"Frozen Russian assets held by securities giant Euroclear in Belgium generated €1.7 billion in tax revenue for Belgium last year. That's according to Euroclear’s annual figures. The Belgian government will use the cash to provide aid to Ukraine. The total amount of Russian assets blocked at Euroclear amounts to some 183 billion euros," the Belgian newspaper VRT reported.
As noted, Euroclear is one of the largest companies of its kind and an influential player in the global financial market. At the same time, only about 12% of the company's shares are owned by the Belgian Federal Government, the rest belong to other municipal governments and banks.
This company used to provide financial services to Russian companies and the government, but all transactions were frozen after Russia launched a war against Ukraine and was subject to international sanctions in response to the aggression. Russian assets, including cash, shares and loans, have been frozen and are currently inaccessible to Russian entities.
According to the publication, the interest from these Russian billions is transferred to a special account at Euroclear and used to replenish European aid funds earmarked for Ukraine. In the financial year 2024, the amount of 3.55 billion euros was transferred to such funds. The first tranche of €1.55 billion was transferred in July 2024, and the second tranche of approximately €2 billion is expected to be transferred next month.
The Belgian government also imposes a tax on all proceeds generated from Russian frozen assets. In 2024, these taxes totalled €1.7 billion, which would be used to help Ukraine.
As a reminder, the leaders of the G7 countries agreed on a mechanism to provide $50 billion in aid to Ukraine through the use of frozen Russian assets.
According to this plan, the EU and the US will take on about $20bn each, while the remaining $10bn will be shared by the UK, Japan and Canada. In particular, Canada will provide Ukraine with 5 billion Canadian dollars ($3.7 billion) as part of the financial support of the G7 countries.
