RIGA - The transfer of Russian assets frozen in the West to Ukraine will most likely be implemented, but the problem is that these funds are not enough to rebuild the war-torn country, European Parliament (EP) member Roberts Zile (National Alliance) said in an interview with TV3 this morning.
The European Commission (EC) proposed on Wednesday to seize Russian assets frozen in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in order to compensate Kyiv for the losses Russia has inflicted. EUR 300 billion of Russian Central Bank reserves and EUR 19 billion of Russian oligarchs' money have been frozen in Europe.
As EC President Ursula von der Leyen explained, in the short term, the European Union (EU) and its partners could take over the supervision of these funds and invest them, while the profits could be directed to compensate Ukraine for the damages caused by Russia's war.
As Zile noted, the EC leadership has estimated that Ukraine's needs are around 600 billion euros, but other experts estimate that more than a trillion euros are needed, so the money frozen from Russia is at best half or even only a third of the necessary funding.
Zile added that solutions for obtaining the missing funds will be Russian contributions and also Western investments, most likely encouraging their private sector to invest in Ukraine.
Explaining the EP's decision to recognize Russia as a state supporting terrorism, Zile admitted that it was a political decision, however, it could allow countries to do more in terms of sanctions against Russia, and it could also be a step closer to the tribunal against Russia for war crimes.
The politician emphasized that such an international tribunal against Russia is necessary both to punish those responsible for war crimes and also to change the narrative in the thinking of the Russian public and make them understand that it is their country that is responsible for causing the war and the suffering caused by it.
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