Photo by the media. CEO of Euroclear Valerie Urbain
Urbain expressed concern that EU actions could lead to lawsuits from Russia, jeopardizing the reputation of her organization. According to her, "reliability and trust" are the core values of Euroclear. Since the beginning of 2022, the company has increased its legal staff from 10 to about 200 employees in anticipation of possible legal proceedings.
Currently, Euroclear has frozen Russian assets worth 193 billion euros, of which 180 billion belong to the Central Bank of Russia. The interest earned from these assets is already being directed to aid Ukraine.
Some European leaders, such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, are advocating for providing Kyiv with interest-free loans totaling 140 billion euros, using the frozen funds as collateral.
Russia will only be able to recover its assets after paying reparations to Ukraine. In the interview with Le Monde, Valerie Urbain expressed doubts about such proposals.
