Ukraine pushes for 'bold action' on Russian assets to plug $78 billion gap in 2027

Ukraine has urged the European Union to tap into the immobilised Russian assets to help plug the country's financial and military shortfall next year, which could hit a staggering $78 billion (€68.77 billion) if allies fail to step up their contributions.
 

Sergii Marchenko, Ukraine's finance minister, made the push on Tuesday as he met with representatives from international donors and financial institutions in Brussels.

During the gathering, Marchenko argued that using the pool of Russian assets would be both a practical and fair solution to meet Ukraine's extraordinary wartime costs, protect its debt sustainability and ensure accountability for Moscow's aggression, according to officials with knowledge of the private discussions.

The EU holds €210 billion of these assets, most of it in Euroclear, a depository in Brussels.

The minister recognised the topic was politically difficult and encouraged the bloc to consider a centralised, legally sound framework.

Marchenko delivered a similar message on Monday at a panel hosted by the European Policy Centre (EPC) that examined the idea of transferring the assets from Euroclear into an EU-owned custodian to mitigate risks for Belgium.

"We need our friends, our European politicians, to be brave enough and to make some bold actions," the minister said in his remarks.

"Unfortunately, the war is longer, the war is harder, and we need to provide some resolution of frozen Russian assets or provide other means for us to survive."

Marchenko provided an overview of the dire financial situation that Ukraine faces in 2027.

From the $52.6 billion in financial aid needed from donors, only $20 billion has been covered so far, leaving a $32.6 billion gap. Meanwhile, there is roughly $45 billion in defence expenditure for which allies have not provided guarantees.

Altogether, this creates a $78 billion hole.

The budget crunch, Marchenko explained, is further aggravated by Russia's non-stop attacks, which have severely disrupted ordinary activity, crippled power grids, destroyed factories and impeded tax collection. Moscow has recently begun to target Ukraine's data centres to impair its digital economy and communications system.