MOSCOW, June 23 — Russia will change the law to let private investors open a second special account where they can keep their shares and financial assets that have been frozen due to sanctions, a top government official said today.
Around 6 trillion roubles of foreign shares held by Russians have been frozen as a result of Western sanctions and Russia’s own authorities and platforms restricting trading in foreign assets, the central bank’s first deputy governor Vladimir Chistyukhin has estimated. The move would not help with un-freezing the assets. Instead it could encourage Russian investors to use their first accounts to put more cash into Russian shares and funds, by ensuring the frozen foreign assets do not take up the tax-free investment allowances.
The changes could be introduced in the current parliamentary session, which ends in July, Moiseev said.