EU Drafts Law to Send Russian Central Bank Profits to Ukraine

The European Union has prepared legislation that would see Ukraine start to receive profits generated by frozen Russian sovereign assets as early as July.

The proposals, which require the backing of all member states, would apply a windfall tax on profits generated by the immobilized reserves, aiming to use an estimated €3 billion ($3.3 billion) a year to fund the supply of weapons to Ukraine and boost the country’s defense industry, according to draft documents seen by Bloomberg News.

About €260 billion in assets of the Russian central bank, mostly in the form of securities and cash, have been immobilized ...