Russia is guarding its frozen assets

Russia has promised a “symmetrical” response to the confiscation of its foreign assets by the United States or its allies.

About it writes Bloomberg, citing Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who stated:

“We also have no fewer frozen assets than the West.”

True, without specifying what Western assets he is referring to, probably the frozen gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russia.

International sanctions imposed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine blocked some Russian assets abroad, including approximately $300 billion owned by the Russian Central Bank. The campaign by politicians and activists to seize these assets and transfer them to Kyiv is gaining momentum.

Russia blocked funds from non-residents from countries it considered “unfriendly” in special “C” accounts after the war began. As of early November 2022, these accounts held more than 280 billion rubles ($3 billion).

Since then, the Russian Central Bank has not disclosed the amount of frozen assets, although Interfax reported in June 2023 that it had risen to almost 600 billion rubles ($6.4 billion) by the end of 2022. Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Elvira Nabiullina said in February that funds are gradually accumulating in “C” accounts, mainly through dividend payments, coupons and debt repayments on bonds, Bloomberg noted.

Meanwhile, a group of legal experts stated that the confiscation of frozen assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation does not contradict international law, given the scale of the invasion of Ukraine. And Denis Shmygal, the Prime Minister, noted that in 2024 Ukraine has plans to gain access to income from frozen Russian assets.

Source link