BRUSSELS, September 11. /TASS/. The European Commission (EC) confirmed that the so-called reparation loan for Ukraine will be financed through a new mechanism to maximize profits from seized Russian assets in the West, the EC representative Paula Pinho said.
When asked to explain how the EU plans to finance this loan if all the income received from frozen Russian assets goes to the ERA (Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration for Ukraine) emergency lending program agreed upon by the G7 countries, Pinho said that in this case it will be a new mechanism to maximize profits from Russian assets and to transfer them to the needs of Ukraine.
"The President [of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen] was referring to a new mechanism for financing Ukraine's military ambitions based on frozen Russian assets. We are still talking about seized Russian assets, in particular the balances of funds linked with these assets. This is a new look at the situation and how we can optimize, maximize the income, the balance of funds generated by these assets," Pinho said.
On September 10, von der Leyen said, speaking at the European Parliament session in Strasbourg with an annual message on the state of affairs in the European Union, that the EC does not intend to confiscate frozen Russian assets in the West, but will use them to issue loans to Ukraine in the form of "reparations."
In fact, von der Leyen described a mechanism for disguised expropriation of Russian sovereign assets. It means that real assets are secretly transferred to Ukraine, while the media will publish claims that this money allegedly remains frozen. Brussels intends to calm the global financial markets with assurances that this money was issued in the form of loans that Ukraine will allegedly repay in the distant future, and thus the money will be returned.
The majority of Russia's sovereign assets frozen in Europe - just over 200 billion euros - are blocked on the Euroclear depository platform in Belgium. The depository has repeatedly spoken out against the expropriation of assets, warning, in particular, that this could lead to Russia seizing European or Belgian assets in other parts of the world through legal proceedings.
Speaking at a press conference following his visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the general financial and economic order in the world would be destroyed, and economic separatism would only intensify if the West stole frozen Russian reserves. He noted that alliances are already being created in many countries around the world that are trying to implement their own economic development plans within individual regions. Earlier, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow would definitely respond to the theft of its assets in Europe. He stressed that Moscow intends to take legal action against those involved.