Western assets in Russia: Kremlin threatens fiscal retaliation

Russia's ra State News Agency says the West stands to lose assets worth at least $288 billion of Frozen Russian assets are confiscated now after Moscow invaded Ukraine the US and its allies blocked around $300 billion worth of Assets Now some Western Powers have floated the idea of using confiscated Holdings to rebuild Ukraine once the war has finally ended but Russia reaffirmed on Sunday that counter measures could follow what it calls Western thievery well according to the ra the top investors in the Russian economy include Cyprus with more than $98 billion the Netherlands with 50 billion and the UK with nearly 19 billion it also reports that Germany has $17 billion invested France $16 billion and Italy almost 13 billion we're joined by Francis kppa who's an economist and Bank commentator thanks again for being with us um the Kremlin says that there's still a lot of w and money uh in Russia as we're saying almost $300 billion I'm sure if those numbers are accurate at this point in time but what can Russia do because it's threatened endless legal challenges and tit fortat measures but can it follow through on those threats against the EU the UK and and the US well I think it can um you we should remember that um some of the money um not intirely sure how much um that Russia says it has access it's it's holding has been essentially stuck in Russia since 2022 when uh Russia um imposed the capital restrictions um and it absolutely could seize that money and it and also um you know impos embargos on on on transfers and Banks and things like that so yes I think it certainly could seize some at least of that money why why haven't these companies uh and countries been able to get their money out of Russia I mean the war has been going on for more than 2 years now I guess how at risk are some of these businesses well I know some of them had tried to divest their Russian assets and not being able to do so um some of them also obviously have tried to get money out of Russia and being prevented and some of them have simply decided to carry on having a Russian presence um you know some banks for example have continued to have a Russian arm raisen Bank in Austria for example I think uni credit as well um you know so there is an element of yes I know there are sanctions but hey we might things it might all blow over we might be able to get back to business and so we've kind of left our business Frozen there until things improved so there's an element of that as well okay how um will this impact those Banks then that that have decided to leave their money in there and and will this have any sort of lasting impact uh you know in the years to come well I I think I mean if Russia follows through on this we we could see some wobbles involving some companies possibly some banks um but I think that I would hope that um the relevant regul authorities the central banks we prepared for this and not let it develop into a full full-blown financial crisis um but we may have them we may see some companies experiencing difficulties okay we'll have to leave it there but we really do appreciate your time and insight into all of this that's France's comp economy and Bank commentator thanks so much make sure to subscribe to our channel to get the latest news from alaz

Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 235,363

Keywords: 300bn in frozen Russian assets, Kremlin threatens fiscal retaliation, Moscow, Moscow invaded Ukraine, RIA, Russia, Russia economy, Russia threatens to freeze 300 billion dollars of western assets, Russia-Ukraine war, Russian economy, Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian missile strike on Ukraine, Russias 300b freeze, Russias RIA state news agency, Ukraine invasion, Vladimir Putin, Western assets in Russia

Id: W580LaYT_yA

Length: 3min 45sec (225 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 28 2024