EU to consider leveraging windfall profits from Russian assets after G7 summit

By Jan Strupczewski EU to consider leveraging windfall profits from Russian assets after G7 summit BRUSSELS - European Union finance ministers will consider a G7 plan for leveraging windfall profits generated by Russian assets, immobilised in the West after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, after a G7 summit later in June, the ministers' chairman said. After Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, western countries immobilised some $300 billion of Russian central bank assets, which are generating annual profits of 2.5-3.5 billion euros a year. Under the G7 plan, which the EU will consider after a G7 meeting in Italy on June 13-15, profits from the frozen assets would service the interest and could pay back the capital of a loan issued to Ukraine by either the United States, or the U.S. and other G7 countries, or by the EU from its budget. To issue such a loan - either bilaterally from one or all of the G7 governments or the EU to Ukraine, or by raising the money on the market and using an intermediary for the payouts like the World Bank - the EU would have to issue assurances to the loan issuer that the profits from the assets would be made available to service it, a discussion paper for the EU ministers said.