€3 billion in profits from Russian assets is "almost nothing" – Ukraine's Justice Minister

Ukraine's Justice Minister Denys Maliuska believes that the estimated €3 billion in annual revenues from frozen Russian assets transferred to Kyiv by the European Union will not be sufficient to meet the country's demands.

Source: Denys Maliuska in a comment to Politico on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of Seven justice ministers in Italy, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The Ukrainian minister critically assessed the amount of funds that Ukraine may receive as a result of the EU taxation of excess profits from Russian frozen assets.

Quote: "If we are talking about the needs of Ukraine and the needs of the war, military and non-military, €3 billion is actually almost nothing — we need hundreds of billions in order to win the war," he explained.

Maliuska, however, noted that the EU initiative is "a good first step". 

"The Ukrainian government really would like to get full confiscation [of Russian assets – ed.] and really believe this is lawful and this is the only approach which will be decisive in terms of the resolution of the war [with Russia – ed.]," he added.

On Wednesday 8 May, EU ambassadors agreed a plan to utilise the proceeds from investing frozen Russian assets in Europe to buy arms for Ukraine. It is anticipated that the amount will range between €2.5 and €3 billion per year.

On 20 March, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell presented a proposal to EU member states regarding the use of windfall revenues from frozen Russian assets in Europe to support Ukraine. This proposal envisages channelling 90% of the funds via the European Peace Facility and 10% via the EU budget.

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