Intensive Efforts To Enable Frozen Russian Assets To Reach Ukraine

During the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, intensive efforts are being made to enable frozen Russian assets to be used in the reconstruction of Ukraine. The work is led by Director-General of the National Board of Trade Anders Ahnlid.

Ukraine’s need for reconstruction support is enormous. A unified EU is contributing in many ways and is exploring new solutions to help in the reconstruction of Ukraine. This is also one of the priorities of the Swedish Presidency.

Since February, a special working group has been focusing on how frozen Russian assets can be used in the reconstruction of Ukraine. Mr Ahnlid leads the working group, which was appointed on a Swedish initiative following a meeting of the European Council.

The working group focuses on getting a clearer picture of where Russian state-owned assets are located and their total value. About USD 300 billion of the Russian central bank’s assets are frozen in G7 countries.

EU assessing different methods

The objective is, as much as possible during the Swedish Presidency, to advance the solutions to using frozen Russian assets in the reconstruction of Ukraine. The working group has been tasked with assessing different methods from legal, economic and political perspectives.

“We must help Ukraine while maintaining the rule of law that the EU is built on. This also applies in times of crisis and war“

Anders Ahnlid, Director-General of the National Board of Trade

Various regulatory frameworks apply to different types of frozen assets. One regulatory framework governs private assets while another governs public assets. Private assets that have been frozen or seized can, for example, only be confiscated if an offence has been committed and the person in question has been convicted in court in accordance with the rule of law.

“We must therefore follow both EU law and international law – that is the challenge. At the same time, I would like to emphasise that we must be innovative and focus on solutions,” says Mr Ahnlid.

The working group is responsible for this work during the Swedish Presidency and will subsequently hand it over to Spain, which will take over the Presidency in the second half of the year.

“We have to meet high expectations and are doing everything we can to advance the issue as much as possible. However, it is a challenging and difficult task,” says Mr Ahnlid.

Meetings with the 27 member states

The work is primarily carried out through meetings with delegations of the 27 member states and in close cooperation with the ‘Freeze and Seize Task Force’, which is led by the European Commission.