The Central Bank announced the interest of foreigners in the exchange of blocked assets

The Bank of Russia hopes for a positive outcome in the exchange of blocked assets, said Olga Shishlyannikova, director of the department of investment financial intermediaries of the Central Bank. According to her, foreign investors have shown interest in the initiative.

“Much will depend on whether foreign investors who have money in type “C” accounts, through which it is planned to buy out such assets, will come, whether they will come, how actively they will participate. We have some expectations, based on the negotiations that have already taken place, that foreign investors still have interest in this project, and that means then we hope for a positive outcome,” Ms. Shishlyannikova said at the conference “Financial Market. New guidelines in a changing world” (quote from “RIA News”).

As the Central Bank notes, the volume of assets in type “C” accounts is significantly greater than the volume of securities of Russian investors blocked abroad. However, the proposed exchange mechanism so far only applies to cash. According to Ms. Shishlyannikova, it is the money in the accounts that “is probably not enough to completely cover up this story.”

President Vladimir Putin in November 2023 signed Decree on additional temporary measures related to the circulation of foreign securities. It allows you to launch the process of exchanging blocked assets worth up to 100 thousand rubles, which belong to retail investors. As Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov noted, the assets of more than 3.5 million Russian citizens worth 1.5 trillion rubles are now blocked abroad.

Read more about the attempt to exchange blocked assets in the Kommersant article. “The end of the era of carpet blocking”.

Leonid Uvarchev