Russian assets frozen in the EU brought €4.4 billion in profit per hour

In 2023, the international depository Euroclear earned 4.4 billion euros by investing in Russian assets frozen by the decision of the European Union. This is stated in the organization’s report on financial results. The European Union discusses the use of profits to finance aid to Ukraine.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union froze the assets of the Bank of Russia placed in the block for a total sum of more than 200 billion euros ($214 billion). Most of these funds are located in Euroclear. Moscow cannot use either this money or the interest earned.

The European Union is considering the possibility of using these funds to support Ukraine. A number of bloc countries oppose the idea of ​​full confiscation of these funds. Instead, profits from their placement will help Kyiv, the main plan of the European Union suggests, as follows from numerous leaks to the press.

In the statement of the European Council published on February 1 following the results of the EU summit in Brussels, it is stated that the extraordinary income of private organizations received from the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank is considered by the EU as “potential sources of income”.

The publication of the Financial Times newspaper notes that if the law on confiscation of profits is passed, it will not have retroactive effect. Therefore, the profit for 2023 will most likely not be used to support Kyiv. However, Belgium previously promised that it would use the tax from this profit for support programs. This is slightly more than a billion euros.