A prominent member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) in the European Parliament, Markus Ferber, is advocating for the utilization of seized Russian gold to contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine. In an interview with the “Augsburger Allgemeine”, Ferber expressed strong conviction that the rebuilding effort will, in part, be financed through the sale of this asset.
While the exact value of the gold remains unclear, preliminary studies suggest its potential for sale. The proposal builds upon existing EU efforts to pressure President Putin’s regime through extensive sanctions. Currently, the interest accrued from frozen Russian assets is already being directed towards supporting Ukraine, but these measures are deemed insufficient to curb Putin’s actions.
Ferber highlighted that Putin, in 2014 during the annexation of Crimea, repatriated a significant quantity of gold reserves back to Russia. He asserted that Putin was taken aback by the fact that these assets had not been frozen at the time. Following the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, Putin has been unable to move further gold reserves out of the country. This has allowed the EU, through sanctions, to effectively restrict access to approximately half of the Russian Central Bank’s gold holdings. This substantial amount of Russian gold is presently located within Europe, including Germany and the United States.
