Kremlin already considers frozen $300 billion lost - Reuters
The Russian authorities tend to consider the $300 billion in reserves frozen after the invasion of Ukraine as almost lost. But she is still ready to fight for them by filing a lawsuit.
Reuters writes about this with reference to sources, Censor.NET reports.
"Deep down, everyone has already said goodbye to the reserves. Of course, there will be (a legal process). This is a kind of ritual," Reuters quoted one of the sources familiar with the opinion of the government and the central bank of the Russian Federation.
Another source confirmed that Russia "said goodbye" to the assets, being confident that European capitals would yield to US pressure.
A third agreed that Moscow was unlikely to prevent the confiscation, but would threaten retaliatory measures such as confiscation of Western assets found in Russia and severing diplomatic relations with foreign countries deemed unfriendly.
The Russian Central Bank believes that if France, Germany, Great Britain, and other countries confiscate Russian bonds and do not pay Moscow the funds, they will be in default.
However, credit rating agencies Moody's and S&P Global disagree with this opinion.
"Our ratings typically do not reflect considerations specific to bondholders, so we would not view this scenario as a default for these countries," said Torsten Nestmann, senior vice president at Moody's Investors Service.
Frank Gill, head of EMEA sovereign ratings at S&P Global, also told Reuters it was unlikely to be considered a default because interest payments are made through a paying agent, which will continue to pay them to other creditors.
Most of Russia's frozen reserves are stored in cash and sovereign bonds of France, Germany, Great Britain, Austria, and Canada.
The interpretation of rating agencies can allay fears about default risk. Some European officials also worry that any asset seizure could set a troubling precedent that would lead to other countries demanding reparations for past military actions by Western nations.
