According to the newspaper, these assets are in French private banks, whose names Paris has kept secret for more than two years. France refuses to provide any details about the institutions holding Russian state funds and how accrued income is used, citing client confidentiality.
This has angered other European countries, especially Belgium, which is insisting that French assets be included in a pan-European “reparation loan” scheme for Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian Central Bank reserves. At the same time, France supports the provision of a “reparation loan” at the expense of the frozen assets of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation in Belgium (€185 billion is stored there). France's €18 billion is the second largest accumulation of such funds in Europe. Most of these assets, according to sources, are kept in commercial banks.
French major banks including BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale largely declined to comment. BNP Paribas said it does not hold Russian state assets in France. EU leaders plan to discuss the “reparation loan” mechanism at the next summit in two weeks.
Context
On September 10, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced new strategy to support Ukraine at the expense of frozen Russian assets. The media explained that the proposal of the so-called “reparation loan” suggests that the country could be provided with financing from frozen Russian assets without their outright confiscation.
In October, Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever immediately called three conditions under which he will agree to support the idea of a “reparation loan”.
On November 7, the European Commission warned EU countries about the risk of annual costs of up to €5.6 billion if they do not agree on the creation of a reparation loan for Ukraine worth €140 billion at the expense of frozen Russian assets.
On November 15, Valerie Urbain, director of the Belgian depository Euroclear, which manages frozen Russian assets, said she “does not rule out” lawsuits against the European Union in case of a decision on their confiscation.
On December 3 in Brussels, the European Commission again discussed the proposed a “reparation loan” for Ukraine worth €165 billion, formed using funds from frozen Russian state assets. This initiative has already provoked resistance from Belgium, which believes that its position has again been ignored.
