ALBAWABA - In order to circumvent Hungary's blockade, the European Union (EU) reached an agreement on Monday to begin disbursing a portion of the earnings that were generated from Russian assets that were blocked, according to AFP, estimated to be worth 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion).
The funds are a portion of the approximately three billion euros in financing from frozen Russian central bank funds that the EU decided to allocate for Kyiv in early May. The EU's other twenty-six members have been working out a legal way to unlock the funds without requiring permission from Hungary, the EU member state that is most friendly to Russia.
The funds are going to Ukraine via the Ukraine Assistance Fund (UAF). Budapest's legal staff claims that it cannot halt these payments as it abstained from the vote that established the UAF earlier this year, according to Politico, which cites EU authorities on the fact that the money is not derived from EU taxpayers is what justifies the measure.
Instead of being utilized for reimbursed expenses, as the UAF often does, the funds will be utilized to directly buy equipment like aerial defence systems and ammunition, with purchases from Ukrainian enterprises accounting for a quarter of the total amount.
Josep Borrell, EU foreign affairs chief stated according to AFP that “the windfall profits coming from Russian assets frozen in Europe, not the assets itself, will be used in the swiftest possible manner for the benefit of Ukraine,” adding that “1.4 billion (euros) will be available in the course of next month, and another billion by the end of the year.”
