Bank of Russia embarks on legal battle to fight for its frozen reserves

The Bank of Russia will challenge the block
placed on its gold and foreign exchange reserves and is working on lawsuits,
Governor of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina said on Tuesday.

“This freezing of gold and foreign exchange reserves was unprecedented, so we
are going to work on legal claims, and we are getting ready to put them
forward. This block on the gold and foreign exchange reserves of such a large
country is unprecedented on a global scale,” she said, emphasizing that the
regulator will fight the West’s infringement against Russia’s assets.

Nabiullina noted that due to the freezing of part of the reserves, additional
currency regulations had to be introduced.

“We have introduced these currency regulations. I know that many enterprises
also complained a lot in terms of foreign economic activity, when it was
difficult to pay. But it was a forced measure. If we had these gold and
foreign exchange reserves in possession, and had this part not been frozen,
there would have been no need for such draconian measures on the movement of
capital,” she explained.

At the end of February, the EU decided to prohibit transactions related to
the management of the reserves and assets of the Bank of Russia, including
transactions with any legal entity, or legal entities or bodies acting on
behalf of or at the direction of the Bank of Russia.

Nonetheless, the EU authorities may authorize transactions, provided that
they are strictly necessary to ensure the financial stability of the
continent-wide bloc as a whole or a separate EU member state.

Earlier, the foreign ministers of 27 EU countries approved a ban on all
transactions with the Bank of Russia and froze its assets.

TASS