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Italian Economy Minister admits EU central banks doubt use of seized Russian assets

The European Union, Canada, the United States and Japan seized Russia's assets in the amount of about $300 billion after the start of the special military operation

ROME, May 23. /TASS/. Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Giancarlo Giorgetti admitted that there is no unanimity regarding the use of frozen Russian assets, in particular, doubts are voiced by central banks.

"It was with great difficulty that a compromise was reached on today's profits [from frozen Russian assets], but the problem is how to apply the same legal framework in the future. Central banks are expressing certain doubts," he said on the sidelines of a meeting of G7 finance ministers in the northern Italian city of Stresa. Giorgetti believes this requires a new regulation at the European level.

"But we are on the verge of European elections, and this is not easy," he added. However, when chairing the meeting the Italian minister expressed optimism that progress would be achieved by the G-7 summit in mid-June.

The European Union, Canada, the United States and Japan seized Russia's assets in the amount of about $300 billion after the start of the special military operation. Of this amount, about $5-6 billion is in the United States.

On April 24, the US Congress approved a package of bills on providing military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, on the confiscation of frozen assets of the Russian Federation in fact for their transfer to Kiev, as well as on the introduction of additional sanctions against China.

On Tuesday, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said EU countries had approved a plan to use 90% of the proceeds from Russian assets to supply Ukraine with weapons. Some European countries are skeptical about this solution and insist on using these funds to rebuild the country after the conflict.

In November 2023, Chairman of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina stressed that the confiscation and freezing of Russian assets by the West will have negative consequences in general for the development of the global financial system.