Ukraine Preparing Mechanism to Confiscate $500 Billion of Frozen Russian Assets

The Ukrainian government is preparing a mechanism that would allow the confiscation of up to $500 billion of Russian assets frozen in the West.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced during his speech at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London that the confiscation of Russian assets should become the main source of funds for Ukraine's recovery, emphasising that Russia must pay for the destruction it caused. Shmyhal said, "We are preparing a fair mechanism that will allow us to confiscate up to 500 billion dollars of russian assets frozen in the West."

He reminded that the Council of Europe made a historic decision to establish a Register of damage caused by Russia's aggression against Ukraine. This is the first component of the International Compensation Mechanism.

Shmyhal mentioned that the second source of reconstruction funding would be the Ukrainian budget, including funds from confiscated Russian assets in Ukraine. The Ukrainian budget for 2023 has already earmarked $3.3 billion dollars. The third source is the assistance from Ukraine's international partners, including international financial organisations.

As previously reported, Denys Shmyhal, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, outlined the government's vision of using frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine and proposes a universal mechanism for the recovery of compensations from aggressor countries.

He also praised the initial steps taken by the United Kingdom, which lay the groundwork for the transfer of frozen Russian funds for the reconstruction of Ukraine (details in the article "Voluntary-Compulsory: UK found way to return money from Russian oligarchs to Ukraine").