OREANDA-NEWS The EU has decided to withhold 5 billion euros of income from frozen Russian assets to pay for legal disputes with Russians, the Politico newspaper reports, citing documents.

Earlier, the Guardian reported that the EU is discussing the preservation of part of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets in the union for their possible use in future legal litigation with the Russian Federation.

"Euroclear (settlement and clearing system - ed.) ... has received permission to keep the income received from investing... (Russian assets) in 2022 and 2023... Five billion euros... "this is a buffer that will allow you to pay for current and potential lawsuits in Russia and elsewhere," Politico said in a publication.

At the same time, as stated by the Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denis Malyuska, he did not receive information about the buffer of 5 billion euros.

It is noted that Euroclear can also use 10% of the revenues received after February 15, 2024, to provide further guarantees. As a last resort, the system may ask the EU to provide it with additional funds.

"If the legal risks do not materialize by 2027, Euroclear will have to transfer 10% to the EU ... but not 5 billion in revenues received in 2022 and 2023," the newspaper said, citing an EU official.

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the EU and the G7 countries froze almost half of Russia's foreign exchange reserves worth about 300 billion euros. About 200 billion euros are in the EU, mainly in the accounts of the Belgian Euroclear, one of the world's largest settlement and clearing systems. The EU is discussing ways to use the frozen assets of the Russian Federation to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine. The European Central Bank warned that this could carry reputational risks for the European currency in the long term, and urged to "look beyond this separate conflict" and look for other ways to finance Kiev.

The Kremlin stated that making such decisions "would be another step in violating all the rules and norms of international law." The Russian Foreign Ministry called the freezing of Russian assets in Europe theft, noting that the EU is aimed not just at private individuals' funds, but also at Russian state assets.