Britain proposes to use frozen Russian assets for loans to Ukraine - Politico
The UK government is considering financing a new wave of loans to Ukraine with billions of pounds worth of Russian state assets frozen in the country.
According to Censor.NET, Politico reports.
It is noted that British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves presented this plan, which may be similar to the plan proposed by the European Union, to EU finance ministers at a meeting in Copenhagen on Saturday.
However, she did not provide specific details on how the plan would work, but noted that the loans would comply with international law and would not involve the permanent confiscation of Russian state assets.
It is noted that although the lion's share of Russian assets - 185 billion euros - is frozen in the EU in the Belgian depositary Euroclear, about 25 billion pounds are stored in the UK.
These funds will finance a "reparations loan" scheme in the UK, which, according to the Treasury, will "work in unison" with the EU program. The ministry added that the proposals under consideration could unlock funding for loans up to the full value of Russian assets located in the UK.
Thus, according to the EU scheme, Brussels will provide Ukraine with loans worth up to 172 billion euros by exchanging Russian money related to frozen Russian assets for zero-interest bonds.
The EU hopes that such a proposal will avoid accusations of full confiscation of the money.
According to the EU scheme, Ukraine would have to repay the loan only after Moscow pays war reparations, which is considered unlikely.
Earlier, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a bill that proposes to transfer frozen Russian assets stored in the United States to Ukraine every 90 days.
