IMF on Frozen Russian Assets: Any Action Should Have ‘Sufficient Legal Underpinnings'
© AP Photo / Andrew HarnikThe logo of the International Monetary Fund is visible on their building, Monday, April 5, 2021, in Washington. The International Monetary Fund is downgrading its forecast for the world economy this year, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022
© AP Photo / Andrew Harnik
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Earlier in May, International Monetary Fund Executive Director for Russia Aleksei Mozhin called the Western countries' move to freeze more than $300 billion in Russian assets the "largest theft in history."
Any action involving the Russian assets frozen by the collective West should have "sufficient legal underpinnings" and not undermine the international monetary system, International Monetary Fund (IMF) First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said.
"While this is for relevant courts and jurisdictions to determine, for the IMF, it is important that any action has sufficient legal underpinnings and does not undermine the functioning of the international monetary system," Gopinath said during an event hosted by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
Roughly $300 billion in Russian assets were trapped abroad and frozen in the US and in European countries in February 2022 after the start of the Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. An estimated $6 billion+ of these funds are sitting in US banks, with the majority of the money stuck in German, French and Belgian financial institutions.
In April, the US House of Representatives approved a bill that would make it easier for Ukraine to obtain Russian assets frozen in the US. Moscow has cautioned that these actions could permanently damage the reputation of the countries taking such steps.