Russia studies extending for one year and modifying the mandatory deposit demands in Russian banks of the currency gain obtained by the large exporters and sale of currencies, imposed to counteract the sanctions of the West by the war in Ukraine, according to the Russian Ministry of Finance.
“We send for approval (to the Russian government) the extension project of the decree for one year and we consider that it is a good occasion to specify some of its points,” Vice Minister of Finance Alexéi Moiséev, cited by the Interfax agency, told the press.
The official said that it is “a good time, an adequate moment” to modify this proposal, since the presidential decree, which establishes mandatory levels of deposit and sale of currencies to guarantee the stability of ruble, expires on April 30.
In February and March 2022, shortly after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Russian president decreed the mandatory sale and repatriation of 80% of the currencies entered by the Russian companies to stop the collapse of the ruble that came to quote 120 units per dollar under the pressure of the sanctions of the West.
The measure was resumed for six months in October 2023 and subsequently extended until the end of April 2025 because the national currency had lost a third of its value in less than a year and exceeded 100 rubles per dollar.
Initially, exporters had to deposit at least 80% of the received currencies in Russian banks and sell 90% of these in the internal market. But later the measure was gradually softened to a tank of 40% of the currencies and the sale of 36% of these.
According to Moiséev, some Russian companies subject to Western sanctions cannot meet these demands, a situation currently studied by the Ministry of Finance. The vice minister said that at present this measure does not have a strong incidence in the change rates of the ruble since companies currently sell more currencies than stipulated by the decree.
This measure applies to 43 groups of companies, belonging to the branches of energy, metallurgy, chemical and timber industries, and cereal export, although it provides that exporters will be able to request an exception addressing the Government Commission for Foreign Investment.
