By KYIV. May 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Union blocked over EUR 200 billion on assets of the Russian central bank, Spokesperson for the European Commission Christian Wigand has said.
According to the tenth package of sanctions against Russia, the operators and member states were obliged to inform the European Commission about the immobilized Russian central bank assets by May 12. The member states submitted their reports, according to which the blocked assets are estimated at more than EUR 200 billion, he told a press briefing in Brussels.
This amount refers only with the European Union, Wigand said.
Asked whether the frozen Russian assets would be used for the benefit of Ukraine, the spokesperson of the European Commission said that the EU is actively working on the issue and is committed to ensure that Russia pays for the damage cause to Ukraine.
He said that one of the options proposed by the EU member states was the use of the Russian central bank assets for this purpose.
Also, the use of the interest from the capital could be considered, Wigand said, adding that discussions in a special working group of the European Council are underway in cooperation with the Swedish chairmanship. The latest meeting was held on May 24.
