London CNN —Russian assets frozen in European accounts could generate billions of dollars a year for rebuilding Ukraine. One idea put forward in the EU is to draw off the interest on income generated by Russian assets while leaving the assets themselves untouched. This approach would probably deliver about €3 billion ($3.3 billion) a year, according to Anders Ahnlid, the director general of the Swedish National Board of Trade and head of the EU working group looking into frozen Russian assets. The group said in April that cash on its balance sheet had more than doubled over the year to March to stand at €140 billion ($153 billion), boosted by payments associated with frozen Russian assets, including bonds. Euroclear routinely invests such long-term cash balances and, in the first quarter, it recorded €734 million ($802 million) in interest earned on cash balances from sanctioned Russian assets.

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Persons: Anders Ahnlid, “, ” Ahnlid, ”, Euroclear, Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, John Thys, I’m, ’, ” — James Frater Organizations: London CNN, Union, Bank, EU, Swedish National Board of Trade, CNN, European Commission, European Central Bank, ECB, Group, Latvia’s, Latvia's, European Locations: Ukraine, Brussels, Russia, EU, Belgium, AFP, Europe