Seized Russian assets to be used to rebuild Ukraine
The cost of rebuilding battered Ukraine after the war is estimated at a staggering $750 billion, but some of those funds could come from the source of the damage.
Just as he has appealed to the international community for help in his country's attempt to fend off the Russian invasion, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Switzerland a global effort will be needed for restoration.
“The reconstruction of Ukraine is not a local project, is not a project of one nation, but a common task of the entire democratic world — all countries, all countries who can say they are civilized,” Zelenskyy said in a video message. ”Restoring Ukraine means restoring the principles of life, restoring the space of life, restoring everything that makes humans humans.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who attended the conference in Lugano in person, provided the $750 billion figure and presented a recovery plan for immediate and long-term needs.
Shmyhal also said a large source of funding “should be the confiscated assets of Russia and Russian oligarchs,” which he said may currently amount to between $300 billion and $500 billion.
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It is not clear that the oligarchs will not fight to get their money back. But the funds seized from the appear significant and could pay for roughly half of the damage caused by the Russian aggression.
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