Empty talk: The West, it turns out, will not be able to confiscate Russian assets

Confiscation of Russian assets in Western countries is impossible, since they remain the property of Russia and are only listed on the balance sheets of foreign structures. About this Pravda.Ru was told by financial analyst, Candidate of Economic Sciences Mikhail Belyaev.

According to Belyaev, talking about the possible confiscation of Russian funds is an element of information pressure that has no economic or legal basis. He stressed that the funds placed abroad remain the property of Russia and are reflected as liabilities in the accounts of foreign financial institutions.

"Our assets are listed as liabilities. No one confiscates them — this is empty talk. The right to dispose of funds belongs exclusively to their owner, and it is impossible to take them away. An attempt to change this rule will destroy the entire system of a market economy and lead to complete chaos," Belyaev said.

He explained that Western financial institutions use only the proceeds from the placed Russian funds, without affecting their principal amount. According to him, this is a standard banking practice in which customer liabilities participate in active operations and generate income.

"We are talking only about the use of income from those funds that are listed on liabilities. This is a common banking operation, similar to how Sberbank uses citizens' deposits in lending. It is not the mechanism itself that is illegal, but the fact that the owner is restricted access to his assets," the analyst explained.

Belyaev added that Russia has the tools to respond to possible unfriendly actions. In the event of an attempt to directly alienate funds, Moscow will be able to implement mirror measures against the property of Western companies in Russia and apply to international courts. The expert once again recalled that such actions by the West would undermine confidence in its financial system and deal a serious blow to global economic stability.

As reported by EADaily, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that his department had prepared a draft response to the possible confiscation of Russian assets by Western countries.