ECB Vice President Discusses Rebuilding Ukraine and Frozen Assets

According to Yahoo News, European Central Bank (ECB) Vice President Luis de Guindos stated that the potential reputational damage from using frozen assets to rebuild Ukraine prevents such a move. He emphasized that utilizing the dividends and interest from the frozen assets should be a global decision, ideally involving all members of the G-7. Additionally, he warned that this could lead to reputational damage and have implications for the euro as a safe currency. The European Union is currently debating how quickly to pursue plans to apply a windfall tax on the profits generated by frozen Russian Central Bank assets and use those proceeds for Ukraine's reconstruction. However, the ECB has expressed concerns over such a move. Estimates suggest that more than €200 billion ($220 billion) of the sanctioned sovereign assets are in the EU. Guindos told the newspapers that the euro is the second most important currency in the world, and its long-term reputation must be considered. He believes there are other ways to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.