MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Ukraine has received the first payment of about $1.7 bln from Canada, backed by gains generated from seized Russian assets, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal announced.
"Ukraine has received 2.5 bln Canadian dollars (about $1.7 bln) as part of the G7 ERA initiative (the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration for Ukraine emergency lending program - TASS). These funds, supported by profits from seized Russian assets, will be allocated for priority needs of the state budget," the prime minister said on his Telegram channel.
He noted that this is the first disbursement from Canada, which has pledged a total of 5 bln Canadian dollars (about $3.5 bln) for the ERA program, which provides Ukraine with financial resources from gains of frozen Russian assets.
In October 2024, the leaders of the G7 countries adopted a joint statement announcing an agreement on the details of providing Ukraine with a $50 bln loan. They stressed that the loans will be serviced at the expense of future income from frozen sovereign assets of Russia within the framework of the legal systems of the G7 countries and international law.
The United States pledged to allocate $20 bln to Ukraine, and the remaining $30 bln will be directed through the joint efforts of the G7 and the EU. In this regard, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the transfer of funds to Ukraine backed by revenues from Russian assets frozen by the West could potentially become a reason for prosecution.
The EU, Canada, the United States, and Japan froze Russian assets in the amount of about $300 billion after the start of the special military operation. Of these, about $5-6 billion are in the United States, and the bulk is in Europe, including the international Euroclear platform in Belgium, where $210 billion are stored. The Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Moscow would immediately take steps in response to the possible confiscation of its assets in the West.