Svyrydenko: Ukraine wants to speed up legal procedures to use Russia’s frozen assets

"We understand that Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction will require huge funds. These frozen assets are one of the sources of this funding, one of the obvious and practical sources. That is why we have to find a way to speed up these [legal] procedures with our partners to develop a legal mechanism. Most [European] countries need to make certain changes in their own legislation, so we understand that it will take some time," Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko told an Ukrinform correspondent after participating in the meeting of the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the European Union (COREPER II).

Svyrydenko noted that, according to the World Bank's report as of last June, the damage caused to Ukraine by the Russian invaders was estimated at $350 billion. As of today, this sum may be twice as high.

"So this is a huge sum of money that should be transferred to Ukraine for recovery. That is why it is so important to use this [Russian] money and transfer it to a fund that can cover all the damage caused to Ukraine, its citizens to restore residential buildings and destroyed critical infrastructure," Svyrydenko added.

As reported, Russian assets to the tune of $340-350 billion are currently frozen in countries around the world, including the assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and Russian oligarchs who support the Putin regime and its criminal aggression against Ukraine.