Bloomberg: E.U. can’t find legal means to confiscate frozen Russian assets

A European Union working group that has been studying how the E.U. can use frozen assets from Russia’s Central Bank in Ukraine says there are no legal means to simply confiscate the funds, reports Bloomberg, citing a document obtained by the publication.

The working group sees “no credible legal avenue allowing for the confiscation of frozen or immobilized assets on the sole basis of these assets being under E.U. restrictive measures.”

The group is studying two other options for using frozen Russian assets totaling more than 200 billion Euros ($219 billion) and sending them to Ukraine. The first — investing Russian assets and directing the proceeds to Ukraine — carries significant legal risk, the group says. 

The second option, called the windfall contribution, would require firms with large Russian holdings that are generating profits to transfer a share of those profits to the E.U. This would reduce the E.U.’s legal exposure, since it would not be managing the funds directly.

Though Russian assets held by European banks and firms are frozen, they continue to generate profits, making nearly 750 million Euros (nearly $825 million) in the first quarter of this year.