EU suspects Belgium of appropriating proceeds from Russian assets frozen in Euroclear, - Politico
There is growing dissatisfaction in the European Union with Belgium's stance on blocking the adoption of a "reparations loan" for Ukraine at the expense of frozen Russian assets.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Politico.
Reportedly, diplomats are beginning to suspect that the real reasons for the resistance are economic, rather than fear of "retaliation" from Russia.
According to five diplomatic sources from different EU countries, Belgium may be withholding income from Russian assets, effectively crediting taxes on them to its budget. This refers to a 25% corporate tax on income generated by frozen Russian assets in the Euroclear depository. This contradicts the commitments Belgium made last year.
Appropriation of proceeds
Diplomats claim that this allows the country to appropriate part of the proceeds instead of directing them to support Ukraine. If Brussels continues to block decisions on assets, the issue of possible appropriation of proceeds may be brought up for discussion before the European Council summit.
The EU is interested in two key questions: whether Belgium receives these revenues directly and whether it transfers them to Ukraine. Analysts at the Kiel Institute estimate that between February 2022 and August 2025, Belgium provided Ukraine with €3.44 billion in aid, while in 2024 alone, taxes on Russian assets brought €1.7 billion to the country's state budget.
Transparency issues
Transparency issues arose as early as 2024, when allies accused Belgium of using revenues from frozen assets to finance its own needs. Despite promises to transfer these revenues to a special EU and G7 instrument, this did not happen.
The Belgian government rejected the criticism by the diplomats, saying that "all the tax earned from the Russian reserves was earmarked to Kyiv," but at the same time avoids giving a direct answer as to whether all the funds received have been transferred. Brussels emphasises that it has provided Ukraine with around €1 billion in aid since 2022, but does not explain why it has not fulfilled its obligation to contribute tax revenues to the joint financial mechanism.
According to one European diplomat, "the tax revenue was already part of their domestic budget, and they didn't want to give it up."
Russian assets to help Ukraine
- As a reminder, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen previously proposed using frozen Russian assets as collateral for providing Ukraine with "reparations loan". Formally, Russian assets subject to sanctions will not be confiscated, but Ukraine will repay such loans only after Russia pays reparations.
- According to various estimates, the EU's "reparations loan" to Ukraine, secured by Russian assets, could amount to €130-140 billion. Its final size will be determined after the International Monetary Fund assesses Ukraine's financing needs in 2026 and 2027.
- In total, Euroclear has currently accumulated more than €175 billion in cash from frozen Russian assets, which could be used to secure a new loan. But before the EU agrees to grant a reparations loan, it will want to repay the G7 loan to Ukraine of €45 billion ($50 billion) agreed last year, which was to be repaid from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets.
