Assets belonging to citizens of Russia and Belarus seized by Ukraine can be used for large-scale post-war reconstruction of the country, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said on Friday, as quoted by Reuters.

The Ukrainian government has frozen about 44 billion hryvnias ($1.21 billion) worth of Russian and Belarusian assets since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, according to the state agency the Bureau of Economic Security.

“Currently, we are looking for the necessary resources for (our) critical recovery,” Martsenko told Suspilny, proposing to create a special liquidation fund as a source of budget for reconstruction.

“The money confiscated on the territory of Ukraine from citizens of Russia and Belarus can be involved in this fund,” he added, without specifying the details.

Ukrainian officials say that in 2023 alone, the government will have to spend about $38 billion on reconstruction.

The total cost of reconstruction was estimated at 750 billion dollars.

The European Union is also considering the possibility of using Russian assets frozen by Western sanctions against Moscow in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, European Council President Charles Michel said at an EU summit last week.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaia Kallas said the sum was around 300 billion euros, although Berlin and others warned that the asset seizures could be illegal.

Moscow said on Thursday it would retaliate if the EU took steps to seize assets belonging to the Russian state or its citizens.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, stated that any such move would be “theft” (source: news.ro).