The European Union has immobilized more than €200 billion ($215 billion) in Russian central bank assets since February 2022, according to fresh numbers, underscoring the importance of ongoing discussions on how to use such funds to help rebuild the war-hit country, Bloomberg reports.
EU nations reported the new numbers on the blocked assets following the 10th sanctions package, which forced banks to divulge information on the size of their holdings.
“The EU is committed to ensure that Russia pays for the damages caused in Ukraine,” European Commission spokesman Christian Wigand, who confirmed the numbers, said in an interview. That’s why the EU is “exploring ways of using Russian frozen and immobilized assets for that purpose”.
The EU has also frozen €24.1 billion in Russian private assets of sanctioned individuals and entities. It has sanctioned almost 1,500 individuals, restricted exports on hundreds of goods and technologies, and targeted many of Moscow’s key revenue sources, but has been struggling to find and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian billionaires.
