There is hope that Russian assets will become an “easy” source of funds for Ukraine, but 6-7 steps must be taken

The US special representative for the recovery of Ukraine, Penny Pritzker, described the stages of the process necessary to use almost 300 billion dollars of sovereign Russian assets frozen in the West for the benefit of Ukraine.

“I think there is a huge hope that Russian sovereign assets can become an easy source of financing,” Pritzker said during an event at the Ukrainian House organized by the Viktor Pinchuk Foundation and the financial company Horizon Capital.

She mentioned the G7 statement that Russia should pay. The statement also says that the relevant departments of the countries should find a way to implement this, and this work is actively underway.

However, the official said, the process is complex and consists of 6-7 steps, which include developing a legal solution, approving the necessary legislation, organizing a management structure to determine who makes decisions about where to direct funds and what the company’s role should be, where the main amount of these funds is kept.

A significant amount of seized Russian assets is in the Brussels clearing center Euroclear.

While the US government is promoting the idea that Russia should pay for the damage caused to Ukraine, the final decision has not yet been made and, most likely, this decision will be collective, the official said.

Another participant of the event, Pierre Heilbron, the representative of France on the reconstruction of Ukraine, agreed with Pritzker: “It is clear that there should be a common position of the G7 on this issue.” He added that two-thirds of Russian state assets are concentrated in Europe.

“Real work is being done, real efforts are being made, there are real intentions, but we’re far from done,” Pritzker said, adding, “It’s wrong to think that this is going to be a very quick panacea.”

Pritzker noted the resilience of Ukrainians, noted that the US should approve new funding for Ukraine, and urged businesses to visit Ukraine and not miss investment opportunities after the end of the war.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, also addressed the participants of Davos with appeals to international businesses to invest in Ukraine. He held a meeting with investment companies, including the management of one of the world’s leading financial companies, JP Morgan Chase.

“We hope that JP Morgan will help attract a large number of global investors to the Ukrainian economy,” the Ukrainian president tweeted after the meeting.