France, which supports providing a loan to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets, has refused to include funds "frozen" in the country's private banks.
he Financial Times reports this in an article, citing sources. According to the newspaper, private financial institutions are covered by "other contractual obligations," unlike the Belgian custodian Euroclear. An anonymous official stated that French banks "do not wish to participate in discussions" regarding the possibility of transferring Russian assets to Kyiv.
According to the same source, approximately €18 billion in Russian assets are held in French bank accounts, representing the second largest amount of Russian assets in Europe. In Belgium, which leads in storing Russian assets, approximately €7 billion are in private banks. The names of the banks remain confidential.
European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill told the newspaper that "this is sensitive information. It would be the same if doctors publicly discussed medical records." In parallel, sources report that the majority of the funds are concentrated in the accounts of BNP Paribas. According to Gill, private financial institutions "may be obligated to pay interest to Russia" depending on the contract. Approximately €210 billion of Russian assets are frozen in Europe, of which €185 billion are in Euroclear's accounts. Neither the Commission nor the EU countries have released official information on the exact location of the remaining €25 billion. Earlier, the Russian Ambassador to Belgium, Denis Gonchar, said in an interview with TASS that any scenario of expropriating Russian assets would constitute theft. He warned that Moscow's reaction "will follow immediately" and will force the West to "calculate the losses."
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