Estonia is working on plans to freeze Russian assets to help Ukraine rebuild. The Baltic country wants public and private wealth for this, which would also affect the money of Russian oligarchs who have assets in Estonia. “The Russians have to pay, not just the European taxpayers,” Margus Tsahkna told France’s “Les Echos”.
Estonia has developed a legal framework that now needs to be tested at European level. “We now want to use these assets to monetize them and give them to Ukraine so that they can start rebuilding, knowing that the owners retain the right to reclaim their property.”
I gave an interview yesterday @LesEchos about the legal framework #Estonia🇪🇪 has evolved to use frozen Russian assets to help #Ukraine🇺🇦. https://t.co/fqxmYeqNwN
— Margus Tsahkna (@Tsahkna) June 28, 2023
The topic is also the subject of this week’s round of talks at the EU heads of state summit. The Estonian government had already put forward its idea at the beginning of the year and now wants to ensure that its EU partners follow suit. In concrete terms, this concerns so-called movable and immovable property, such as money or real estate.
According to the Estonian news portal ERR, there are frozen Russian assets worth nearly €20 million in Estonia. However, the numbers vary wildly because funding can be moved around, reports ERR. More than 90 percent of Russia’s fortune in Estonia is said to be linked to two Russian oligarchs – Andrei Melnichenko and Vyacheslav Kantor.
At the beginning of this year, the reconstruction of Ukraine cost an estimated 350 billion euros.
Britain also aims to involve Russian oligarchs and the state in rebuilding Ukraine. In mid-June, London appealed to Russians hit by British sanctions but wanted to support Ukraine to “do the right thing” and donate frozen funds for Ukraine’s reconstruction. Then the blocking of the assets in question would be lifted.
The EU countries have now frozen 200 billion euros from the Russian central bank. The estimated wealth of oligarchs is 24.1 billion euros. 1,473 oligarchs and 205 companies are affected.
Used sources:
(t online)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
