Assistance to Ukraine from partners is an important tool, but the state needs predictability and stability regardless of time and political fluctuations in the world. This year is the year of 74 elections, and this is a "great stress" for our partners and for us. That is why the confiscation of frozen Russian assets should become a reliable source of support for Ukraine and funding for recovery. This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at his annual press conference.
Currently, we know about the freezing of assets equivalent to $300 billion. A dialogue is underway on how to use these funds.
"Fortunately, this dialogue is much more progressive and optimistic than it was a year ago. Today, most of our partners support the idea of using Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine," he said.
According to the Prime Minister, there is a "full readiness" to use the proceeds from Russia's frozen assets, but this is only the first step.
"We are interested in confiscation," he stressed.
Work is currently underway to set up an international confiscation group to match the political will to confiscate with legal possibilities. We are working separately with Belgium, where the largest amount of money is concentrated - about 200 billion on Euroclear accounts.
There is already a register of damage and destruction with an office in Strasbourg, and work is underway to establish an international compensation commission and an international compensation fund. This is a tool that will be used in parallel with the political decision on confiscation. All confiscated assets will be accumulated in the fund, and the commission will make decisions based on a register of damage and destruction.