Confiscating Moscow's money is not easy, 'America wants to provoke', IMF has spoken out

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) believes that any decision regarding the confiscation of Russian assets should be made by the competent authorities of the country concerned. However, things are not that simple...

Tài sản Nga bị phong tỏa: Tịch thu tiền của Moscow đâu có dễ, ‘Mỹ muốn khiêu khích’, IMF đã lên tiếng

What does the IMF say about the possibility of seizing frozen Russian assets? (Source: Devdiscourse)

Meanwhile, the international organization that oversees the global financial system is closely monitoring the ongoing discussions to assess the potential impact of such decisions on the international monetary system.

The statement was made by IMF Communications Director Julie Kozak in response to a reporter’s question in Washington recently. “So, first of all, I would like to confirm that any decision regarding the seizure of Russian assets or the imposition of taxes on the holding of interest on these assets is made by the competent authorities of the country concerned,” Kozak said.

The IMF is monitoring the ongoing discussions and its particular interest in such matters is “to assess the potential economic implications for any member country, or the implications for the international monetary system,” the IMF official said.

Accordingly, any assessment the IMF makes will depend precisely and in detail on any action taken.

Notably, Bloomberg recently reported that President Joe Biden's administration has in principle supported a proposed law that would facilitate the seizure of about $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to help pay for Ukraine's reconstruction efforts.

Regarding this issue, on January 11, in response to RIA Novosti 's request for a response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized once again that the confiscation of currently frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine's reconstruction is "illegal".

The Kremlin representative accused the US of trying to pressure its European allies to take this action, "because they know that Russia's main foreign assets are in Europe."

RIA quoted Mr. Dmitry Peskov as stating that there is a very paradoxical situation here, "because most of our assets are in Europe, not in the US".

Russian officials have bluntly accused Washington of supporting such moves as a “provocative statement,” and that Europe would face “inevitable” legal consequences if it caved in to US pressure.

After Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, the US and its allies launched many economic attacks, including immediately blocking transactions with the Russian Central Bank and Ministry of Finance, and freezing about $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets in the West.

The Kremlin spokesman also said earlier that Moscow had in its possession a list of assets from the US, Europe and other countries that would be confiscated if Western countries pushed ahead with plans to seize Russian assets.

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) are expected to meet next month to discuss a new legal measure that would allow the seizure of Russian assets, two sources familiar with the matter and a British official said late last year.

Any such move by the West would be "theft", violate international law and undermine reserve currencies, the global financial system and the world economy, the Kremlin spokesman commented.

Mr. Peskov also affirmed that if countries continue to target Russian assets, this will "undermine the power of the global financial system" and affect the confidence of international investors.

However, RIA also quoted Mr. Peskov as saying that Moscow has not yet been informed about this development.

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