The expert did not rule out further growth of the international reserves of the Russian Federation

International reserves are highly liquid financial assets held by the Central Bank of Russia and the government of the country. As of March 20, Russia's reserves totaled $641 billion, which almost reaches the historical record of $643.2 billion set on February 18, 2022. This opinion was shared by Evgeny Shatov, partner of Capital Lab, in an interview with Izvestia on March 21.

"International reserves consist of assets in foreign currency, monetary gold, and special drawing rights (SDR), a monetary unit of account used between the IMF (International Monetary Fund. — Ed.), a reserve position in the IMF and other reserve assets," he explained.

According to him, Russia's international reserves continue to increase, largely due to the positive revaluation of assets. Over the past week, reserves have increased by $2.8 billion, which is 0.4%.

"It should be borne in mind that more than $300 billion of international reserves remain frozen due to sanctions. It is likely that the positive dynamics of international reserves will continue and in the near future they may reach a historical maximum," Shatov summed up.

Entrance course: the Russian Federation will develop a procedure for the return of Western business

But the interests of Russian entrepreneurs will be a priority, Putin said at the RSPP congress.

Earlier, on March 3, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that attempts to seize Russia's frozen assets for transfer to Ukraine would have serious legal consequences. He noted that there have been more and more such ideas in the West lately. According to Peskov, the sensible voices of those who urge to come to their senses and not destroy investor confidence turned out to be in the minority.

In addition, on March 2, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that there was no consensus among the participants of the summit on the Ukrainian conflict in London on the issue of the seizure of frozen Russian assets. According to him, most of the leaders of the countries expressed the opinion that the seizure of assets of the Russian Federation is a good idea, but some reacted to this proposal with caution, fearing "consequences for the euro or the banking system."