FRANKFURT: Any European Union decision on using frozen Russian state assets to help Ukraine must follow international law and the European Central Bank is “very attentive” to the process, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Monday.
The EU is searching for a way to finance Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction with some of the 210 billion euros worth of Russian sovereign assets immobilized in the West after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
As outright confiscation would be illegal, the bloc’s political leadership is working on a plan to invest the Russian cash in zero-coupon bonds issued by the European Commission with guarantees from EU governments.
The EU would then use the cash to issue a “Reparations Loan” to Ukraine.
“We very much expect that any scheme that is discussed and eventually introduced at some point in time will be done in accordance with international rules, with international law,” Lagarde told European lawmakers in Strasbourg.
Lagarde is worried that a legally contentious move would damage the credibility of the euro and discourage investors from holding euro assets, potentially damaging financial stability.
“From my vantage point, and with in mind financial stability and the strength of the euro, we will be looking very attentively to make sure that what is proposed is in accordance with international law (and) is mindful of financial stability,” Lagarde said in a parliamentary hearing.
When the Russian assets were frozen at the outset of the war, the money was invested in bonds. Those bonds have now matured and the cash is stuck at the Euroclear central securities depository in Belgium.
Lagarde said any decision should be agreed by all the parties that hold Russian assets.
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EU must follow law in using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, Lagarde says
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EU must follow law in using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, Lagarde says
- Lagarde says any decision should be agreed by all the parties that hold Russian assets
Bulgaria court refuses to extradite Beirut blast shipowner
- Igor Grechushkin is accused by Lebanese judicial authorities of ‘introducing explosives into Lebanon’
- Ruling can be appealed within the next seven days before the Sofia Court of Appeal
SOFIA: A Sofia court on Wednesday refused to extradite a shipowner wanted by Lebanon over a devastating blast at Beirut’s port in 2020.
Lebanon wants Bulgaria to extradite Igor Grechushkin, a 48-year-old Russian-Cypriot, over the disaster.
The blast on August 4, 2020 was one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosions, destroying swathes of the Lebanese capital, killing more than 220 people and injuring more than 6,500.
Grechushkin, who was arrested in September at Sofia airport, is accused by Lebanese judicial authorities of “introducing explosives into Lebanon — a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a large number of people — (and) disabling machinery with the intent of sinking a ship,” according to Bulgarian prosecutors.
But the Sofia city court refused Lebanon’s extradition request, ordering his release.
“Lebanon did not provide guarantees that, if he were sentenced to death, the sentence would not be carried out,” Grechushkin’s lawyer Ekaterina Dimitrova said.
The ruling can be appealed within the next seven days before the Sofia Court of Appeal, whose decision will be final, and the suspect will remain in custody until then.
Authorities in Lebanon say the 2020 explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been stored haphazardly for years, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.
Beirut authorities have identified Grechushkin as the owner of the Rhosus, the ship that brought the ammonium nitrate into the port.
A Lebanese investigation into the blast was long bogged down by legal and political wrangling.
Those questioned in the investigation include former Lebanese prime minister Hassan Diab, as well as military and security officials.
Lebanon wants Bulgaria to extradite Igor Grechushkin, a 48-year-old Russian-Cypriot, over the disaster.
The blast on August 4, 2020 was one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosions, destroying swathes of the Lebanese capital, killing more than 220 people and injuring more than 6,500.
Grechushkin, who was arrested in September at Sofia airport, is accused by Lebanese judicial authorities of “introducing explosives into Lebanon — a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a large number of people — (and) disabling machinery with the intent of sinking a ship,” according to Bulgarian prosecutors.
But the Sofia city court refused Lebanon’s extradition request, ordering his release.
“Lebanon did not provide guarantees that, if he were sentenced to death, the sentence would not be carried out,” Grechushkin’s lawyer Ekaterina Dimitrova said.
The ruling can be appealed within the next seven days before the Sofia Court of Appeal, whose decision will be final, and the suspect will remain in custody until then.
Authorities in Lebanon say the 2020 explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been stored haphazardly for years, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.
Beirut authorities have identified Grechushkin as the owner of the Rhosus, the ship that brought the ammonium nitrate into the port.
A Lebanese investigation into the blast was long bogged down by legal and political wrangling.
Those questioned in the investigation include former Lebanese prime minister Hassan Diab, as well as military and security officials.
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