Bloomberg reported on Friday, that there is a wide disagreement and controversy between the European Commission and the European Central Bank regarding a plan to impose taxes on Russian assets subject to sanctions.
Bloomberg stated, quoting informed sources, that differences arose between the European Commission and the European Central Bank, as well as within the European Union, over the issue of imposing a tax on profits from the use of frozen Russian assets, and about plans to use the profits of the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank to help in the reconstruction of Ukraine, and because Decision deadlines.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said earlier that the European Commission will come out with a specific proposal to the EU countries by August to use the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank in the European Union to help in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said the EU intends to use excess profits from the use of frozen Russian assets in the EU to help Ukraine, and expects to receive at least three billion Euros annually.
On Thursday, European Union executives objected to European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde in response to the bank’s warning that action on frozen assets could threaten financial stability in the Eurozone and the liquidity of the single currency.
The European Commission also rejected the ECB’s arguments, saying that when the assets were initially frozen in February 2022, the risks were assessed, and at the moment, none of them have materialized.
Bloomberg pointed out that the tax on additional income from the use of frozen assets, which is scheduled to be introduced, does not affect the assets themselves, nor the claims of the Russian Central Bank, or the role of the European Union in ensuring the safety of securities.
The timetable for the decision was postponed after the summer recess, as not only the European Union and the European Central Bank agreed, but also the European Union member states themselves.
“France proposed earlier this week to consider a two-stage process as a compromise that would first freeze the revenues and then discuss how to use them,” Bloomberg sources said.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, earlier, that the authorities are taking measures to protect the Russian economy and companies, in light of the measures taken by a number of countries against Russia.
Peskov also said that the gangster actions practiced by Western countries with regard to Moscow’s assets cannot be placed within the framework of international law, and that all attempts to legitimize this are doomed to failure, adding that Moscow will monitor the West’s subsequent actions.
