MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. Russia needs to push back against the arrest of its gold and foreign exchange reserves and demand that they be unblocked, Chairman of the Accounts Chamber Alexey Kudrin said, addressing the Federation Council on Wednesday.

"Gold and foreign exchange reserves are a necessary institution of any state, particularly with such a strong payment balance as ours. Consequently, they can only be placed outside the Russian Federation. Of course, the arrest of such gold and foreign exchange reserves is a radical move, evidently unforeseen, and rare in the history of financial systems. We can only oppose this and engage in activities to make sure they are unblocked in the future, which I think should be done," he explained.

Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves were managed in strict conformity with the law, Kudrin noted, adding that the management was efficient and responsible.

On March 20, 2022 France’s authorities froze the Bank of Russia’s funds worth 22 bln euro.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said earlier that around $300 bln, or half of the Russian Central Bank’s gold and foreign exchange reserves, were blocked by the US, Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom after the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine.