Estonia to allocate €38 mln in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine

On October 12, the Estonian government approved and sent to the parliament a resolution to use Russian-frozen assets to help Ukraine, says Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

The government has approved an amendment to the law on international sanctions at today's meeting and will submit it to the Parliament. It provides internal rules for using assets frozen in Estonia by persons under sanctions to compensate for the damage caused by the war in Ukraine.

Estonia's legal space will be organized more broadly so that the competencies and powers of institutions to implement and oversee sanctions are clearer and more effective.

Kallas believes that it is vital for Russia to raise the price of aggression.

We have to find ways to hold Russia financially accountable for the damage done to Ukraine. The draft law I have submitted to the parliament today allows the frozen assets of sanctioned persons in Estonia to be used to compensate for military damage in Ukraine. Russia must compensate Ukraine for all the damage caused by the war, Kallas said.

Estonia has frozen assets worth about 38 million euros under international sanctions.

Ukraine is developing a mechanism to transfer frozen assets as compensation for the damage caused by the war. For this purpose, a register of losses has been created and should be launched next year.

Bloomberg previously reported that the EU is studying the procedure for confiscating the Russian Central Bank's 200 billion euros of frozen assets. The European Commission is also developing its proposals.

Belgium has created a special fund to support Ukraine in the amount of 1.7 billion euros, which is filled with taxation of Russian assets frozen in the country.

In July, Italy announced that after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, it froze the assets of Russian oligarchs worth about 2 billion euros.