On 3 August, the European Union received €1.4 billion in windfall profits generated by the interest on the cash balances originating from immobilized assets of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) held by Central Securities Depositories (CSDs). The receipt of this amount marks the fifth transfer of its kind, following a fourth tranche delivered in March 2026. It covers revenues accumulated during the first half of 2026. Since their immobilisation, the Russian assets have generated a total of €8 billion in windfall profits.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (pictured) said: “Russia must pay for the destruction it has caused. And we are using the proceeds from the immobilized Russian assets to make sure it does. We are making a further €1.4 billion of them available to Ukraine. This will support Ukraine’s continued resistance against Russia’s illegal war.”
These funds come from CBR assets immobilised under the EU sanctions, imposed in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. While the assets themselves remain immobilised, the interest on the cash balances does not belong to Russia and upon the proposal by the Commission and the High Representative, the Council decided that these net profits should be used to support Ukraine. This measure is part of the EU’s continued commitment to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.
95% of the proceeds will be used to support Ukraine via the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism (ULCM) and 5% via the European Peace Facility (EPF). The ULCM provides non-repayable support to assist Ukraine in repaying the EU macro-financial assistance loan disbursed throughout 2025, as well as loans provided by G7 bilateral lenders under the G7 ‘Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) Loans’ initiative. Total support under the ERA loans amounts to €45 billion. On the other hand, the EPF helps Ukraine to address its pressing military and defence needs.
More information is available online in the press release.
