Hungary, Slovakia may block seizure of Russian assets due to Kiev corruption — media
Budapest and Bratislava may block the initiative to seize frozen Russian assets to provide funding to Ukraine due to the corruption scandal that broke out in Kiev, according to Politico.
Yesterday, EU finance ministers concluded their meeting in Brussels, where they once again discussed the issue of expropriating Russian assets but failed to reach an agreement. The newspaper notes that only a few member states have voiced the idea of completely abandoning the plan, without specifying how many countries share this viewpoint. In turn, other EU countries may impose stricter conditions on the use of such aid “for fear it will end up in the wrong hands,” Politico writes.
Although EU countries have not reached a consensus on Russian assets, Denmark, as the current chair, has instructed the European Commission to begin developing a legal framework for seizing assets. An EU summit will be held in December, at which a final decision on this issue may be taken.
“The Commission is in a race against time to propose the reparations loan, so technical talks can begin over the financial engineering behind the initiative. Waiting until after the next EU leaders summit on December 18 is a nonstarter – unless the EU is prepared to let Ukraine fall,” the news outlet points out.
Politico notes that even if a decision to expropriate Russian assets is made in December, it will take a long time before Kiev receives the first payments. Procedural rules may require a vote on the initiative in the European Parliament, as well as in the national parliaments of several countries, which could take months. As a result, Brussels may have to grant Ukraine an interim loan.
If Kiev receives no new installments of financial support from the EU or the IMF before April 2026, the country will have to tighten spending starting this month. Initially, the government will use funds originally earmarked in the 2027 budget, such as dividends from state-owned banks.
After that, it will seek to issue bonds, and once this funding is depleted, Kiev will begin suspending payments to municipalities and freeze funds for reconstruction work. As a last resort, the government will stop salary payments to officials, pensioners, medical workers, and the military — something that has never occurred during the special military operation period.
Kiev corruption scandal
On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) raided the apartments of Timur Mindich, who is often referred to as Zelensky’s “wallet,” and Justice Minister German Galushchenko, who has already been stripped of his office, as well as the company Energoatom, which is linked to Mindich, and later released recordings of conversations in Mindich’s apartment discussing corruption schemes. Later on Monday, the Ukrainian government prematurely terminated the mandate of Energoatom’s Supervisory Board.
On November 11, NABU brought the first charges against members of Mindich’s criminal group. He himself fled Ukraine hours before his home was raided and is currently staying in Israel.
