The Russian people’s savings could be confiscated in response to sanctions against the country, according to Nikolai Arefiev, a member of the country’s Communist Party and deputy chairman of the State Duma’s committee on economic policy in Russia.
The Russian government can potentially seize about 60 trillion rubles (nearly $750 billion) of citizens’ savings if Western nations decide to block all foreign funds from Russia, Arefiev was quoted as saying in an interview with local news agency News.ru.
source: News.ru
The issue of centralization is then raised and although the price of Bitcoin and most crypto currencies is down since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many members of the crypto community continues to show the usefulness of such technology.
After noting that Russia also has over $640 billion in gold and foreign currency reserves, Arefiev dared to make the following announcement:
“If all foreign funds are blocked, the government will have no choice but to seize all the deposits of the population, i.e. 60 trillion rubles in order to solve the situation”
He also mentioned that potential sanctions against Russia include a possible disconnection of the SWIFT network and bans on currency trading.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially announced a special military operation in Ukraine, which could trigger a series of sanctions against Russia’s largest banks, including state-owned VTB and Sberbank.
According to local reports, Sberbank mistakenly made a statement about its inclusion in the sanctions list by the U.S. on Thursday night, but later withdrew the notice, claiming that the statement was false and was caused by a “website failure.”
For the time being, it is possible to read on the Sberbank website that the bank as well as all its systems are functioning normally, while customers and businesses have full access to their funds and services.
A slip states:
“We are prepared for any developments in the situation and have worked out scenarios to ensure the protection of our customers’ funds, assets and interests, as well as to ensure the regular operation of all our functions.”
On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it would make sure to respond to possible Western sanctions, saying:
“Make no mistake, we will respond strongly to these sanctions, not necessarily symmetrically, but the response will be well-calibrated and will certainly affect the United States.”
Source : Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Russia
