Russia may introduce a ban on withdrawing money abroad

The Ministry of Justice has developed a draft law providing for amendments to the Federal Law ‘On Enforcement Proceedings’. If the draft law is adopted, the country will introduce a ban on withdrawal of funds under an executive document in favor of foreign credit institutions.  Thus, the state plans to resist the withdrawal of Russian money under the guise of debts to foreign partners.

The legal development has already been supported by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and Rosfinmonitoring, however, the representatives of business and the banking sector fear that the norm will create obstacles for bona fide counterparties.

At the moment, the draft law is going through the stage of coordination in the federal executive authorities, Izvestia reports.

It should be noted that over two years, the volume of Russian money withdrawn abroad has only increased. In 2020, this indicator amounted to 25 billion rubles, which is 60% more than a year earlier. In 2021, this figure showed growth again: in the first half of the year alone, the volume of withdrawn funds amounted to 20 billion rubles.

A similar scheme was spread ten years ago, when Russia lost about $20 billion in three years. The funds were withdrawn to the accounts of a company from Moldova, in favor of which court decisions on the existing debts on loans were made. It was the writ of execution that served as the basis for transferring funds abroad.