Capital Economy, Business and Finance
The EU has released €1.4 billion from the profits generated by frozen Russian assets as military aid to Ukraine for the first time, after working out a “legally sound” way to bypass opposition from Hungary. The EU has previously estimated that revenues from these assets could total around €2.5 billion a year – derived from about €260 billion of Russian sovereign funds currently frozen in the EU. Hungary cannot stop the payments having abstained from voting on an earlier agreement to set up the Ukrainian Assistance Fund (UAF), according to the EU Council’s legal team. Unlike most UAF payments, this money will not be allocated for compensation. It’s going towards purchasing ammunition and air defence systems, with a quarter to be paid directly to the Ukrainian arms industry.
