France faces pressure over €18 billion in frozen Russian assets

France is coming under mounting pressure to utilise frozen Russian state assets to help finance Ukraine amid an EU-backed plan for a “reparations loan.”

Around €18 billion of Russian sovereign funds have been largely immobilised in private banks in France, whose identities have been kept secret for more than two years, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

This accumulation represents the second-largest cache of frozen Russian central bank assets in Europe.

The European Commission is pushing a proposal to use these funds — and others across the EU — to support Ukraine, beyond the primary €185 billion held at Brussels-based Euroclear. However, France has resisted disclosing details on the banks holding these assets or the use of any accrued interest, citing client confidentiality.

“The holdings have come under renewed scrutiny as Brussels seeks to turn frozen Russian funds into financial support for Kyiv,” the report notes.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at Downing Street, as European powers rally support for Ukraine amid rising US pressure to broker a peace deal with Russia.

Elsewhere, the UK is set to unveil its strategy to counter Russia’s submarine threat, Deutsche Bank plans to boost its supervisory board chair’s pay by over 40%, and the Federal Reserve is expected to cut US interest rates this week amid concerns over a weak jobs market and persistent inflation.

In corporate news, Unilever’s Magnum Ice Cream Company will debut on the Amsterdam, London, and New York stock exchanges, and Brazil’s Banco Master collapsed last month amid allegations of a $2.3 billion fraud, impacting the market for high-end London office leases.

Financial literacy, grid upgrades, electric vehicle regulations, and the future of AI data centres remain under scrutiny across Europe and the US, highlighting the ongoing economic and technological shifts shaping global markets.

By Aghakazim Guliyev