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Another Crazy Idea On How To Steal Russia’s Assets: Make EU Taxpayers Pay For It
The war hawks have long tried to steal Russian assets held in West to then use the money to finance the proxy war against Russia. The sums involved are serious:
Nearly three years after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Belgium holds €258 billion in frozen or immobilised Russian assets.
The General Administration of Treasury at the Ministry of Finance confirmed the figures on Wednesday to La Libre and De Tijd.
Some of these assets belong to institutions not sanctioned by the European Union. Frozen assets amount to €65 billion, with an additional €193 billion in immobilised transactions, primarily from the Central Bank of Russia.
The money is not really held by Belgium but by the Belgium company Euroclear which acts as depository for international central bank assets denominated in Euros.
Currently the EU is confiscating the interest, not the principal, of that money to distribute it to Ukraine. That step is likely already illegal and Russia will certainly use the courts to get it back.
There were also talks to invest the Russian assets in junk bonds with aim of achieving a higher yield:
Euroclear chief executive Valérie Urbain told the Financial Times that European Union plans to raise additional revenue from frozen Russian assets by investing them in higher-risk securities would amount to “expropriation.”
Urbain also warned that such a move could prompt “Russian retaliation in all sorts of forms,” as well as damage Euroclear’s reputation.
The majority of Russian assets frozen after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine are currently held at Euroclear.
The E.U. has reportedly been discussing the possibility of transferring these assets to a special E.U.-administered fund that would make higher-risk investments. The goal is to generate greater returns to support Ukraine.
That move was blocked as no one was ready to accept the potential liability for it. Not only Belgium, but also Germany and other fiscal conservative states, have warned that such a move would endanger their own assets. Russia has announced that it will retaliate against any confiscation of its money. It threatens to confiscate whatever European companies own or hold in Russia. Those companies would then have to sue their own governments for cover of their losses.
Now a new idea has crept up. How it is supposed to work is not clear to me but it seems to have the support of the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
In a Financial Times op-ed Merz claims (archived):
Germany has been, and remains, cautious on the issue of confiscating the Russian central bank’s assets that are frozen in Europe, and with good reason. There are not only questions of international law to consider, but also fundamental issues concerning the euro’s role as a global reserve currency. But this must not hold us back: we must consider how, by circumventing these problems, we can make these funds available for the defence of Ukraine.
In my view a viable solution should now be developed whereby — without intervening in property rights — we can make available to Ukraine an interest-free loan of almost €140 billion in total. That loan would only be repaid once Russia has compensated Ukraine for the damage it has caused during this war. Until then, the Russian assets will remain frozen, as decided by the European Council.
Such extensive assistance will require budgetary guarantees from member states. Those bilateral guarantees should, as soon as the next Multiannual Financial Framework is in place in 2028, be replaced by collateralisation under the EU’s long-term budget.
What sounds like AI slop is not Merz’ own idea but a plan that had been proffered earlier by the EU commission. But no one seems to understands how its is different from an outright confiscation of those assets:
Frustration has been building in EU capitals around the lack of details surrounding the so-called reparations loan, which Commission President Ursula von der Leyen first pitched in her State of the European Union speech Sept. 10.
The bulk of the Russian assets are held by the Brussels-based financial firm Euroclear and are invested in Western government bonds that have matured into cash. The cash is sitting in a deposit account with the European Central Bank.
The idea is for the EU to redirect the cash to Ukraine and “enter into a tailored debt contract with Euroclear at 0 percent interest,” according to the note.
Euroclear holds €185 billion in cash balances linked to the Russian assets, a part of which will pay back a preexisting G7 loan to Ukraine.
The remaining €140 billion will be paid out to Ukraine in tranches and used for “defense cooperation” as well as supporting Kyiv’s ordinary budget needs.
Reuters has more details on it:
To avoid seizing the Russian assets, the idea is to transfer the cash from Euroclear to a newly created Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) owned by EU governments, or G7 governments as well. In exchange, the European Commission would issue Euroclear with zero-coupon bonds guaranteed by the owners of the SPV.
The EU bonds would cover Euroclear’s risk against Russian litigation while the cash in the SPV could be invested more profitably than overnight deposits in the ECB and thus generate a higher return for Ukraine.
Why would this scheme, as Merz say, ‘require budgetary guarantees from member states’? Doesn’t that mean that the tax-payers of those member state will eventually have to pay it? Who’s money is at risk when Russia wins its litigation? Who pays if something goes wrong?
Some 62% of German voters disapprove (in German) Merz’ policies. Only a record low 35.5% says that he is right in what he is doing. In the fiscal conservative Germany any attempt to borrow more money for the war in Ukraine will further sink his and his party’s chances of ever being reelected.
Merz knows that the scheme has little chance to find unanimous EU approval. He plans to circumvent (archived) opposition to it:
I propose that, at the European Council at the end of October, we give the mandate to prepare this instrument in a legally secure manner.
That decision should, ideally, be unanimous — failing that, it should be adopted by the large majority of member states who are firmly committed to Ukraine. We should also invite partners around the world that have frozen Russian assets to join the instrument. To this end, we will co-ordinate closely with our partners in the G7.
Luckily it is Belgium which has the last says in this. It is, naturally, opposing the scheme:
Speaking in the margins of the UN General Assembly, Mr De Wever said that Chancellor Merz’s proposal “will never happen”. The Belgian Prime Minister argues that seizing central bank assets of a third country would set a dangerous precedent
“If countries see that central bank money can disappear when European politicians see fit, they might decide to withdraw their reserves from the eurozone.”
De Wever added Chancellor Merz’s public statement regarding this is regrettable. “I’ve told everyone that I am happy to discuss this. But let’s talk and come up with something, rather than sharing an opinion on it every day. I find it quite frustrating.”
It is, in the end, Russia’s money. Any attempt to seize is outright thievery. How long will it take for sane people to intervene and to shoot this idea down?
Ukrainian losses for the week September 20th to September 26th, as reported by the Russian defence ministry:
– Kursk & Kharkov fronts: 1,250 troops, 3 tanks, 4 LAV/HMV, 62 motor vehicles, 15 artillery pieces, 9 EW and CB systems.
– Zapad Group (Luhansk area): 1,605 troops, 10 LAV/HMV, 108 motor vehicles, 18 artillery pieces, 59 EW and CB systems.
– Yug Group (Donetsk north): 1,540 troops, 3 tanks, 23 LAV/HMV, 74 motor vehicles, 26 artillery pieces, 13 EW & CB systems.
– Tsetr Group (Donetsk south): 3,675 troops, 3 tanks, 14 LAV/ HMV, 38 motor vehicles, 12 artillery pieces.
– Vostok Group (southern front): 2,135 troops, 2 tanks, 17 LAV/HMV, 97 motor vehicles, 11 artillery pieces, 6 EW & CB systems.
– Dnepr Group: 380 troops, 3 LAV/HMV, 40 motor vehicles, 4 artillery pieces, 25 EW and CB systems.
In total: 10,585 troops – up five hundred from the previous week (45,868 per month, with undercounting probably about 50,000).
11 tanks (3 in Kursk/Kharkov), 0 IFV, 0 APC, 71 HMV/Light Armoured Vehicle (4 in Kursk/Khakrov) 19 less than the previous week’s low, 409 motor vehicles which is 76 less than the previous week.
86 artillery pieces (15 in Kursk/Kharkov), 13 more than previous week; 373/mth, about 40% of the peak loss rate.
Plus 112 EW and Counter Battery systems, a drop from the previous week.
Dribs and drabs of tanks being fed in to hold back the Russians. LAV/HMV numbers just keep falling, no IFV or APC losses for weeks. Still low continued artillery losses. The casualty rate picked up again about 5/9ths peak level of late last year. Lack of Ukrainian manpower but losses climbing.
Posted by: Roger Boyd | Sep 27 2025 3:54 utc | 112
I’m from Portugal. My country was threatened by the EU and ECB just because we voted against austerity and had a 0.1% “excess” budgetary deficit in 2015.
We were forced to privatise strategic companies (sell them with discount to foreign “investors” aka thieves in EU), cut wages, cut pensions, cut the Health and Education budgets, etc.
We have a Constitution that tells us to be militarily neutral (i.e. get out of NATO), be peaceful, and respect the UN’s Charter, specifically the Human Right to Self-Determination.
Now, thanks to the EU, in practice we live in a dictatorship that violates our own Constitution, threatens us if we do not blindly obey whatever they say, orders us to keep tightening the austerity (for workers only, not for rich people…), sell our country bit by bit, waste our budget in a war that has nothing to do with us, and accept to collaborate with nazis in Ukraine and terrorists in Syria and genocidal lunatics in “israel”, and to be “well behaved” vassals of USA/UK.
And the majority of the people, accept all this, because the propaganda, manipulation, Fake News, is permanent, almost omnipresent.
People get unhappy with the consequences of this stupidity, but are not allowed to know the real causes.
They call this “freedom and democracy”, Western style…
Some of the long range drones that Ukrainian nazionalists use against Russia’s urban areas, are a UK+Portugal development, the Tekever drones.
And our President just announced that Portugal “will NEVER” recognize Crimea as being part of Russia.
And yet, we already de jure recognize occupied Cuba (Guantanamo Gulag) as being part of USA, and Kosovo as being an “independent” country, and immediately recognized the Kiev government after the CIA bloody nazi coup in 2014.
And we let the Azores military base be used as a platform to publicly announce the USA+UK+Spain invasion of Iraq.
Obviously, whaterve is decided in the EU/USA, the corrupt vassals in Lisbon will comply, blindly, without question.
Steal Russian assets? Ok.
Direct war between Euroepan NATO and Russia? Ok.
Send Tekever drones to Moscow, and risk to receive Orechnik missiles on Lisboa? Ok.
100% tariffs against China and our brothers in Brazil? Ok.
More 30% inflation because we stopped using Russian oil? Ok.
More 40% inflation because we annoy Algeria, and obey the order to recognize Western Sahara as part of Morocco, as we were told by EU/USA? Ok.
Support the attack against 7 Middle eastern countries, and do nothing to stop a GENOCIDE? Ok.
Have elections that change absolutely nothing, because all our policies are decided in Brussels (EU), Frakfurt (ECB, €uro), and Washington (NATO)? Ok.
Violate our own Constitution and censor Russian news channels? Ok.
This is what “freedom and democracy” really means in this Western dystopia.
PS: hey, Monn Of Alabama, the links “continue reading…” used to load the the page in the right position, so that we could really continue reading. Now, after your website transitioned to a new platform, this no longer works as usual. Now the “continue reading…” link just loads the page normally and sends us back again to the top of the text. Fix this, please.
Posted by: Carlos Marques | Sep 27 2025 10:38 utc | 128
@snake #127
You said
i did not say Ukraine was immune, I said a judgment against Ukraine would be impossible for Russia to collect and it would immunize all of Europe against a successful Russian law suit.. because soon Russia will be the owner of Ukraine. and Ukraine will be the party that violated the trust, if such a violation occurs.
Also wrong.
Russia doesn’t need to win in courts – that is only one avenue. Russia has, within its borders, $500B to $800B in American and European corporate assets – mostly European.
Should the US and/or EU choose to steal the CBR assets, the Russian government will execute already existing laws to “confiscate in lieu of back taxes” or some such, of some or all of these assets.
Furthermore, you have a fundamentally wrong understanding of the situation.
“Giving” Euroclear to Ukraine means giving the holder of much/most of the central bank assets in the world to Ukraine. This includes US, UK, EU, EU member nation, Japan, South Korea, South American/African/Asian nations – which some percentage of CB assets is now in an institution owned by the most corrupt nation on earth, very possibly.
What a great idea!
But it gets worse than that: the whole point of having Euroclear in the EU is that these CB assets generate value and jobs from which Belgium and the EU, overall, benefit from.
Do you actually think this will continue if Euroclear becomes Ukrainian, even in the extremely unlikely future where Ukraine doesn’t steal from Euroclear?
LOLOLOLOL
Your thinking is exactly like that of the shyster lawyers advising the stupider of the neocons and Europeans: tunnel vision.
Nor is your idea of Russia, taking over Ukraine, then being responsible for Ukraine’s debts.
Among other things, I guarantee that there will be a “free Ukraine” based in London or Paris or Miami which will claim ownership of Ukraine – which means Ukraine’s debts as well. Although this entity, being led by Zelensky – will certainly try to weasel such that it gets the cream but not the dregs (ie the debt), there is no latitude or question of ownership.
Posted by: c1ue | Sep 27 2025 14:32 utc | 144
Well I visited Taiwan dozens of times on behalf of my employer during the late ’80’s just as the Death grip of the Nationalist refugee wave was waning. Your parents were part of Chiang Kai-shek/Nationalist’s invasion. Chiang Kai-shek/Nationalist’s were rabid cultural-superiorists, they rigidly suppressed others, kinda like the Galicians except, they had something positive to work with.
Taiwan had/has a terrific industrial base for it’s size. Steel, metal fabrication, particularly stainless steel. Manufacturing. I just bought a set of stainless cookware for my cousin’s son’s wedding gift. High quality, taught the mainlanders how to do the stuff. Chemical processing et al. Resources? Taiwan lacks those just as Japan/China/Korea does. ex-ukrainia has lot’s of resources [and gifted infrastructure]..pearls to swine as my father used to say.
Why so good at stuff? Education and Confucian morality/work-ethic. In my life, I have been deeply affected by the Confucian value system while I schooled at community college at night. I was surrounded by Vietnamese/Korean/Thai/Taiwanese and a few Chinese students. I learned much from them.
That is why Asia will rise, not resources, China is pretty lacking in them too, Education and Confucian morality/work-ethic. I add that Buddhist thinking is part and parcel to that morality found throughout Eastern/Southeastern Asia. A strong moral foundation upon which to build unified societies.
I understand that a silicon valley guy would look down on industrial products, that is the big problem with the America/America’s-upper-most-class. Lawyering, Finance, pharma and software schemes are seen as the calling of the intellectually superior social strata, why get your hands dirty with the untermensch and their love of industry? Hell any crappy artist display 3rd rate work is held in higher regard than the craftmanship of the finest machinist.
Taiwan is a country by any reasonable definition of the word, if it chooses to be subsumed into China that is it’s right but, if it chooses to continue down it’s successful path it should do so unfettered.
Finally, to say Taiwan threatens China is laughable, China currently has border disputes with 17 countries, it’s behaving like any other empire, no better, no worse. Let’s look at the world with eyes wide open and leave ideological blinkering to others.
Posted by: S Brennan | Sep 27 2025 19:26 utc | 187
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