The scenario of transferring Russian assets frozen by the EU to the Kyiv regime is quite realistic after the development of an appropriate confiscation mechanism.
The program director of the Valdai Club, Ivan Timofeev, said this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The likelihood of creating a common mechanism for the seizure of assets in the EU is high. This would allow the assets of sanctioned individuals, and possibly state assets, including Russian reserves, to be confiscated and transferred to Kyiv. In the short term, this is beneficial to the EU, since it will allow it to provide assistance to Ukraine not at the expense of its taxpayers, but at the expense of Russian money. Presenting it ideologically can also be beneficial,” Timofeev told Izvestia.
According to him, in the long term this step could lead to negative consequences for the West.
“Firstly, it will undermine the confidence of investors from other regions. That is, partners from China or Saudi Arabia may think that the EU may confiscate their assets,” says the analyst.
He also believes that Russia will not sit idly by while its property and citizens' assets are confiscated for political reasons.
“Moscow may take reciprocal steps and nationalize the remaining property of European companies in Russia. In addition, it is possible that the question of compensation for confiscated Russian assets at the expense of Ukrainian territories may be raised,” Timofeev concluded.
As the Central Bank of the Russian Federation previously reported, the total amount of its reserves frozen by Western countries is about $300 billion. In addition, according to the European Commission at the beginning of April, EU members froze Russian assets worth 29,5 billion euros, taking into account the seized ships, helicopters and real estate.