#FROZEN ASSETS

Ukraine has received a payment of around $1 billion backed by the proceeds from frozen Russian assets based in the UK, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Friday.

Proceeds from the €3 billion sale of British football club Chelsea, meant to aid war victims in Ukraine, remain frozen in the U.K. nearly three years after its Russian oligarch owner was forced to sell the club.

European Union lawmakers approved the bloc’s plan on Tuesday to use frozen Russian central bank assets to loan up to €35 billion ($38 billion) to its ally Ukraine.

The Polish foreign minister said that Hungary has deprived itself of the right to veto the EU’s decision to use profits from frozen Russian assets for aid to Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron reached an agreement on the use of profits from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.

Alar Karis signed a law allowing frozen Russian assets to be used for Ukraine’s war damage and the country’s reconstruction.

Estonian lawmakers have passed an act allowing the use of Russian assets frozen under international sanctions to compensate Ukraine for war damages.

It intends to sanction among others the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Russia for the first time.