An international depository earned more than €4B on frozen Russian assets.

The financial group Euroclear earned €4.4B in 2023 on Russian assets that were frozen due to EU sanctions. This is about 80% of all interest income of the group. Aggregate net interest income, including Russian, increased by 70% to €5.5B compared to 2022.

Euroclear separates revenues related to Russian sanctions from its underlying financial results and will retain them until further guidance is received on allocating or managing revenues. Russian assets worth €180B have been frozen in Belgium, where the Euroclear office is located.

Since 2022, Ukraine has asked for the money to be given as compensation for the damage caused by the Russian Federation. The EU had disagreed, but on January 29, EU ambassadors reached an agreement: interest income from Russian assets should go to help Ukraine.

In addition, in 2024, Ukraine should receive the first tranche of €1.7B from Belgium, collected in the form of taxes on Euroclear’s income from Moscow’s funds.