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Central Bank looking at idea of paying businesses leaving Russia in special bonds

Earlier, the Bank of Russia’s Governor noted that Russia had"‘a safety cushion" in assets not under sanctions, while reserves are set aside based on what assets cannot be used for sanctions pressure

MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. Russia’s Central Bank is considering the idea of paying businesses leaving the country in special bonds tied to the regulator’s frozen assets abroad, the regulator’s Governor Elvira Nabiullina said at the State Duma’s (lower house) meeting on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Bank of Russia is interested in finding creative solutions to the issue of frozen assets, she noted.

"It needs to be further worked out, but fundamentally, such an initiative could be considered as one measure to protect Russian assets frozen abroad," Nabiullina said commenting on a proposal by member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) Vladimir Koshelev to pay businesses leaving Russia in special Central Bank bonds pegged to the regulator’s frozen assets in the West.

That said, the Central Bank’s chief stressed that a number of factors should be taken into account when considering the proposal. "There are issues. First, tying bonds to frozen assets may lead to disclosing information about our reserves, about their structure. We would not like that. Second, it will hardly be possible to force us to issue these bonds, and what’s more, to make foreign regulators ‘let go’ of frozen assets even if the bonds are held by their citizens, non-residents," she explained. However, the regulator is ready to consider such bonds as an alternative to C-type accounts. "Moreover, there are issues related to the Bank of Russia’s immunity on property owned by the regulator, because the jurisdictional immunity of the Central Bank’s assets has not been challenged yet despite the freezing, and the question that remains is what the Central Bank will get in return," Nabiullina added.

Earlier, the Bank of Russia’s Governor noted that Russia had"‘a safety cushion" in assets not under sanctions, while reserves are set aside based on what assets cannot be used for sanctions pressure. The regulator also continues its work to return the blocked reserves in dollars and euros.

Following the start of Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine, Western countries slapped sanctions against the Bank of Russia. Apart from freezing Russia’s gold and foreign currency reserves, all transactions related to management of the regulator’s reserves and assets, as well as transactions with any legal entity, organization or body acting on behalf or at the direction of the Central Bank, were prohibited.

Elvira Nabiullina said earlier that around $300 bln worth of gold and foreign currency reserves of the Russian Federation were frozen as a result of sanctions.

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