The superyacht “Amadea” was confiscated by the USA. However, it is legally unclear whether the proceeds from the sale of the ship can benefit Ukraine.
(Photo: dpa)
Lugano After the war, Ukraine is to be rebuilt with billions in aid from the West. Ukraine and Switzerland, hosts of the reconstruction conference in Lugano, agree on this. But on one point Switzerland and Ukraine are headed for a disagreement: how to deal with frozen Russian assets.
At the end of the two-day donor conference in the largest city in the canton of Ticino, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal emphasized that the foreign exchange reserves confiscated abroad by the Russian central bank and oligarch funds should be used to finance reconstruction. “$300 to $500 billion has been frozen by our partners,” Schmyhal said.
These could make a major contribution to the cost of reconstruction, which the Ukrainian side puts at a total of $750 billion. “That would be an important signal from the civilized world.” Only then would aggressors like Russia understand that they also have to pay for the damage done.
Swiss President Iganzio Cassis dampened expectations of cash flows from Russian assets on Tuesday. “The right to property is a fundamental human right.” It can be restricted – but a clear legal basis is needed for this.
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So far, Switzerland has frozen oligarch assets in the single-digit billion range. The Swiss Bankers Association estimates the Russian assets managed in Switzerland to be in the hundreds of billions. However, these are not related to sanctioned persons. According to Cassis, citizens must be protected against unauthorized access by the state to their assets. Otherwise there is a risk of a precedent that restricts civil rights.
Who will pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction? This question was at the heart of the Lugano Conference.
(Photo: IMAGO/Ukrinform)
Shmyhal did not risk public dissent: the Ukrainian head of government confirmed that the issue of the payment of frozen assets was “a complicated problem” that each sovereign state could solve in its own way. Among other things, he praised Germany. Authorities in Munich recently confiscated the apartments of a sanctioned Russian parliamentarian for the first time – and not just frozen their assets.
However, there was hardly any dissent about the remaining guidelines for the reconstruction of the war-torn country. In a joint Lugano Declaration, Ukraine and representatives from 38 donor countries agreed on seven fundamental principles. The declaration is about the commitment to a democratic process in which the whole of society participates, the involvement of private companies, a green transformation towards a CO2-free society, a digitized administration and development projects free of nepotism and enrichment. “The reconstruction process must be transparent,” it says. “The rule of law must be systematically strengthened and corruption eradicated.”
The Ukrainian government presented a comprehensive reconstruction plan for the first time in Lugano on Monday. Schulze and others welcomed the detailed plans that now have to be implemented together. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the Ukrainian population, who are suffering from the attacks every day, are encouraged by the international community’s confidence in the victory in the war started by Russia.
More: The one trillion dollar project – how to rebuild Ukraine