Ukraine has called for frozen Russian assets to be used to rebuild the country’s war-ravaged economy after a report showed the cost of reconstruction increasing to almost $500bn.

In their third assessment of the likely price tag for recovery and reconstruction after Russia’s invasion two years ago, the World Bank, Ukraine’s government, the European Commission and the UN said the war had caused the economy to shrink by more than 25% and had been a “dramatic setback” to Ukraine’s development.

Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said: “The needs or reconstruction have continued to grow over the past year. The main resource for Ukraine’s recovery should be the confiscation of Russian assets frozen in the west. We need to start this process already this year.”

An estimated $300bn of Russian assets have been frozen since the war started in February 2022.

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  • @[email protected]
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    -119 months ago

    why not just hold it, frozen, until Putin dies/gets assassinated and someone not batshit crazy takes his place?

    • Mbourgon everywhere
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      159 months ago

      Why? If a criminal torches my house, they have to pay to rebuild it. Why should this be any different?

      • @[email protected]
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        -139 months ago

        if found guilty, yes - generally people in that situation arent actually paying you back though, that’s why you have homeowners insurance.

        it’s different because it’s not your house, it’s a country.

        • @maness300
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          9 months ago

          Russia’s aggression has already been deemed illegal by the UN.

            • @NateSwift
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              129 months ago

              So they’ve been found guilty? Which was the requirement you made previously for seizing funds

            • @maness300
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              99 months ago

              Yes, but its member states are justified in taking action.

        • @[email protected]
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          29 months ago

          There is not going to be an infallible higher power coming down and telling us what to do. If we as a collective think Russian assets in EU hands should be used for this purpose, then that is what will happen. It is the EU that will ultimately decide if this is the right course. It looks like the current prevailing opinion is that the money should be used for this, as soon as possible. It is scary to do something that has not been tried before. Let’s hope for the suffering people of Ukraine, our elected officials get to work sooner, rather than later.

        • @[email protected]
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          09 months ago

          Your homeowners association subrogates against the destroyer’s insurance if it was an accident and pursues the destroyer themselves it it was intentional. If they can’t pay, they’re bankrupted. The only reason criminals don’t typically pay for the damages is because they tend to be somewhat “judgment-proof,” meaning that they have no assets to be seized nor wages to garnish.

          But we have the seized assets and they’ve been found guilty…