Fears of deposit confiscation in Russia are growing

As the Washington Post reports, people are fearful that the Kremlin under President Vladimir Putin could confiscate their deposits to finance the war against Ukraine.

»Drones fly. Things burn down. Nervousness is growing,” the Post quoted a former high-ranking tax official as saying. People would rather have their money under their pillow than in a bank that might keep it. Some banks already have major problems with liquidity. "They invested all the money somewhere else," said the official, "and people come and withdraw half a trillion rubles a month."

According to Prokopenko, nationalization is unlikely, but: "I would not rule out the possibility that the authorities could introduce a withdrawal limit." However, the topic is not new: According to official information, Russia has already nationalized assets worth around 6.5 trillion rubles, at that time around 72 billion euros, from 2022 to the end of 2025.