Use of the immobilized Russian Central Bank assets to rebuild Ukraine: between political will and legal hurdles

Introduction

The current discussion of Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction takes place against the backdrop of the broad and internationally coordinated efforts to sanction Russia and its ruling elites. Given that these sanctions resulted in the assets of the Russian Central Bank and entities under its control being immobilized, the question that immediately springs to one’s mind is whether and how can these resources be used to rebuild Ukraine. While the political discussions have abounded in claims that these funds can be used as reparations and the war crimes committed by the Russian army only strengthen this resolve, this might be a thorny path to follow from a legal perspective. It is against this backdrop that this chapter aims to contribute to both academic and policy debates on the topic. The contribution is structured in the following way. Part 2 is dedicated to the analysis of whether there is a political will among the states that immobilized Russian assets to confiscate or use them. Following this, Part 3 focuses on the discussion of the legality of such a move. For this purpose, the legality of asset confiscation or their temporary use is examined against the background of immunities granted to central bank assets under international law. Subsequently, this part explores possible legal justifications for asset confiscation and their availability.

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