Retail consumers may lose their investments if harsh Western sanctions are imposed as Russian armies invade Ukraine. According to Nikolai Arefiev, a member of Russia’s Communist Party & vice-chairman of the Duma’s economic policy committee, Russians’ money might be taken as a result of the country’s sanctions. Arefiev said in an interview on Monday that if western nations chose to ban all of Russia’s overseas investments, the Russian government might confiscate around 60 trillion rubles ($750 billion) worth of people’s accounts.
“If all foreign investments are banned, the government will have no alternative but to confiscate all of the population’s savings, or 60 trillion rubles, to address the crisis,” the official said, noting that Russia has $640 billion in gold & foreign exchange reserves stored overseas.
He also indicated that prospective penalties on Russia include a possible disengagement from SWIFT and restrictions on foreign exchange. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military campaign in Ukraine, possibly triggering a series of sanctions on Russia’s top banks, including state-owned Sberbank and VTB.
According to statistics, the new events have had a major influence on the Russian equity markets and cryptocurrency markets, with Bitcoin (BTC) temporarily falling below $35,000 for the very first time since June 2021. The market cap declined below $1.7 trillion for the first time since August 2021.
