How frozen Russian assets could fund Ukraine’s war effort
Marketplace All-in-One
Marketplace
4.5 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 9 May 2024
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
From the BBC World Service: The European Union plans to use profits from frozen Russian assets to fund arms to Ukraine, which could be worth around $3 billion a year. Plus, the head of public relations at China’s biggest search engine, Baidu, apologized after glorifying a work-till-you-drop culture. And as China’s President Xi Jinping concludes his European tour in Hungary, we look at the country’s growing EV battery industry.
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Transcript
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| 0:27.0 | slash donate. So Ukraine is going to get money from frozen Russian assets, but at the same time |
| 0:36.3 | Russia is going straight for Ukraine's economy. |
| 0:39.2 | Hello, I'm Leanna Byrne and this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:44.8 | I'm going to start with the better news for Ukraine first. |
| 0:47.5 | EU ambassadors have agreed to give the country the profits from frozen Russian assets to buy weapons and those assets are currently |
| 0:54.2 | generating more than three billion dollars a year. The BBC's Nicky Cardwell has |
| 0:58.8 | more on that one. The financial assets were frozen after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and there's been a fierce |
| 1:05.9 | debate about what to do with them ever since. |
| 1:08.8 | Moscow has threatened the West with a severe response and endless legal challenges if the money is touched. |
| 1:15.8 | Earlier this year the EU agreed to use the interest generated, but many countries were unhappy |
| 1:21.6 | about the 25% taxes and fees that Belgium would collect on |
| 1:26.1 | the money. Diplomatic sources say Belgium has now agreed to donate the taxes to Ukraine. |
| 1:32.1 | Nicky Cardwell there. |
| 1:33.0 | At the same time, though, Russia is increasing its tax on Ukraine's infrastructure, |
| 1:38.0 | which are causing power cuts in nine regions. |
| 1:40.0 | Ukraine's former infrastructure minister, Vladimir OMalleyan says that this is a direct attack on Ukraine's economy. |
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