Siluanov comments on the unblocking of Russian assets

Siluanov: Permits for NSD given with minimum ability to unlock Russia’s assets

Permits to unblock assets of National Settlement Depository (NSD, part of Moscow Exchange Group) from the Belgian side have been issued in such a way as to minimize the possibility of unblocking frozen assets, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

The Luxembourg Ministry of Finance (where Clearstream is registered) and the Belgian Treasury (Euroclear) had previously granted NSD permission until 7 January 2023 to unblock some foreign securities at NSD.

“After NSD filed lawsuits with the relevant courts, the courts have started to consider these issues, but the Belgian side is now doing so in a way that, conventionally, minimises, on the contrary, the possibilities of unblocking the resolution of the frozen assets. At any rate, the deadline is very short – until 7 January,” Siluanov said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Also, according to the minister, the mutual unfreezing of assets is “a two-way road”. “If Western countries are ready to have a conversation in this direction with their Russian counterparts, we will find a way and mechanisms to solve the unblocking of such assets both from our side and, accordingly, we will talk about the same actions on the part of Western countries,” he explained.

In early June, the European Union added NSD to the sanctions lists within the framework of the sixth package of anti-Russian sanctions; Switzerland later joined the restrictive measures as well. As a result, in addition to securities and cash of Russian clients in various currencies, which have been immobilised in NSD’s accounts with Euroclear and Clearstream since March, cash in euros and francs in NSD’s accounts with foreign correspondent banks has also been blocked.

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