Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Russia would take retaliatory measures similar to the West's seizure of its sovereign assets.
In an interview with Rossiya-1 TV channel on November 20, Minister Siluanov said that Russia would use the income from the frozen assets of Western investors. He added that these measures would be taken in response to unfriendly actions by Western countries.
"We are doing exactly that. If Western countries decide to use our assets and income from our assets, the Russian side will also take appropriate actions," the Finance Minister said.
“Therefore, we have also frozen the assets of Western investors, Western financial market participants and companies. The income from these assets will also be used,” Siluanov further explained.
The United States and its allies have frozen an estimated $300 billion in assets belonging to Russia’s central bank since the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022. The bulk of the money, about 197 billion euros ($207 billion), is held at the Euroclear payment center in Brussels, Belgium.
Euroclear estimates that these Russian assets generated 5.15 billion euros ($5.4 billion) in profits in the first three quarters of this fiscal year.
Last month, the US announced its decision to use proceeds from Russian assets to fund a multi-billion dollar loan to Ukraine. In October, the G7 nations finalized a massive $50 billion loan to Kiev that will be backed by the accumulated profits from Russian assets currently frozen in the West.
Russia has repeatedly warned that seizing its sovereign funds would amount to “theft,” violating international law and undermining the global financial system. The Kremlin has previously said the Russian government would pursue legal action against those involved in the theft of its assets.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also repeatedly warned that any decision regarding the confiscation of frozen Russian assets would require "full legal backing".
Minister Siluanov previously noted that global stakeholders are closely following this story and are drawing their own conclusions.
Although the Finance Minister did not give details on the amount of Western assets held in Russia, previous calculations by RIA Novosti put the figure close to the size of Russian funds frozen abroad.
The news agency said that the total amount of foreign direct investment in the Russian economy from the EU, G7, Australia and Switzerland reached 288 billion USD by the end of 2022.
