In a statement, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission said, the European Union is looking for ways to use frozen assets of Russian oligarchs to fund the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war.

On Wednesday, the European Commission had proposed a 9 billion euro loan to Ukraine to keep the country going as it struggles to defend against Russian efforts to “de-militarise and denazify” it. The EC wants to set up a reconstruction facility for after the war.

“Our lawyers are working intensively on finding possible ways of using frozen assets of the oligarchs for the rebuilding of Ukraine. I think Russia should also make its contribution,” said Von der Leyen to ZDF television.

She went on to add, she favoured coupling the long-term reconstruction of Ukraine with reforms needed for it to join the European Union.

While Ukraine has stated its with to join the EU, it has to meet certain standards in areas including the rule of law, as well as in economic and political spheres, she said.

“The accession process depends a lot on how the candidate behaves and what it does. Ukraine wants to join the EU at any price which means the motivation is great to undertake the reforms that are needed,” said Von der Leyen. “We will have to co-finance the reconstruction of Ukraine … it makes sense to tackle reforms at the same time, for example against corruption or building up the rule of law”.

Categories: Creativity, Entrepreneurship, HR & Organization, Strategy

Tags: European Commission, European Union, frozen assets, fund, longterm reconstruction, oligarchs, president, rebuilding, reconstruction, Russia, Russian, Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen, war