Why did the authorities make the sale of currency mandatory?

The announcement of the transition to mandatory sale of export proceeds came as a surprise to many officials and businesses, although it was generally predictable. President Vladimir Putin’s decision demanding the return of foreign currency earnings was announced late in the evening of October 11. The decision to resume the mandatory sale of export earnings is due to the fact that the business did not comply with informal agreements on the return of foreign currency earnings, a source close to the discussion of the measure told Vedomosti. Another source close to the government explained it in a similar way.

Formally, the agreements were respected, but in practice, due to the lack of transparency of operations, most of the exporters’ income still ended up in foreign currency. This categorically did not suit the authorities, and the exchange rate confidently went above 100 rubles/$, despite all the conceptual agreements, the introduction of a duty tied to the exchange rate, etc., explained one of the sources.