Moscow may seize private US assets in Russia if US seizes frozen reserves, says Putin ally
Source: Reuters
April 27, 2024 9:47 AM EDT Updated 6 hours ago
MOSCOW, April 27 (Reuters) - Russia may respond to any U.S. confiscation of its currency reserves frozen in the West by seizing the assets, including property and cash, of U.S. citizens and investors in Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, a senior security official, said on Saturday.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill allowing the Biden administration to confiscate Russian assets held in American banks and transfer them to Ukraine, something the Kremlin has said would be illegal and trigger retaliation. In response to Russia's war in Ukraine, the United States and its allies prohibited transactions with Russia's central bank and finance ministry and blocked about $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets in the West, most of which are in European not American financial institutions.
The Group of Seven (G7) major democracies is also looking at what it may be able to do around the frozen Russian assets. Medvedev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said on Saturday that Russia would not be able to retaliate in kind against any U.S. seizure of its reserves.
"The reason is clear - we do not have a significant amount of American state property, including money, rights and other US assets. Therefore, the answer can only be asymmetrical. It is not a fact that it will be any less painful," Medvedev wrote on his official Telegram channel. "We are talking about the foreclosure, for example by a court decision, on the property of private individuals located in the jurisdiction of Russia (money, real estate and movable property in kind, property rights)."
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/moscow-may-seize-private-us-assets-russia-if-us-seizes-frozen-reserves-says-2024-04-27/
pecosbob
(7,548 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,423 posts)Irish_Dem
(47,791 posts)Earth-shine
(4,044 posts)I suppose they thought by staying they would reap tremendous gains, when everyone else (like McDonalds) was pulling out and eating the loss.
Irish_Dem
(47,791 posts)OnlinePoker
(5,729 posts)oldsoftie
(12,662 posts)That wouldnt look obvious at all would it?
BumRushDaShow
(129,939 posts)has assets in Russia.
By Brad Plumer@[email protected] Updated Dec 14, 2016, 12:43pm EST
On Tuesday, Donald Trump tapped ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be his secretary of state. And one eyebrow-raising aspect of this pick is that Exxon could potentially have billions of dollars at stake in one of the biggest foreign policy decisions Trump will consider over the next few years whether to maintain sanctions on Russia. Exxon, the worlds largest oil company, has long had its eye on Russias vast oil and gas deposits.
Between 2011 and 2013, Exxon signed a series of deals with the Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft to explore the Black Sea, develop shale resources in western Siberia, and most importantly drill for oil in the Arctic, one of the biggest untapped fossil fuel resources left in the world. For Exxon, which famously missed out on the massive US fracking boom, these deals were crucial for the companys future. Arctic oil in particular wouldve been a game changer for Exxon, says Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. The company hoped this would be a decades-long investment worth many billions. But Exxons Arctic dreams fell apart in 2014, after the Obama administration slapped sanctions on Russias oil industry over Russian incursions into Ukraine.
Despite having just made a tantalizing oil discovery in the Kara Sea, Exxon was forced to stop work and exploration in the Russian Arctic has been on hold ever since. At the time, Tillerson told shareholders that he was opposed to targeted sanctions on Russia: We do not support sanctions, generally, because we dont find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented comprehensively, he said in May 2014. His new boss appears to agree: Reince Priebus, Trumps incoming chief of staff, recently said Trump was not yet sure whether hed keep those Russian sanctions in place.
The potential conflicts of interest here are considerable: Tillerson himself owns $218 million in Exxon stock and a pension reportedly worth $70 million, though its not clear what hell do with those investments once he joins the Trump administration. What we do know is that Tillerson could soon find himself in a position of influence over the sanctions question and that lifting them could prove a major boon to Exxon. Its conceivable Tillerson could stay impartial and judge the issue purely on its policy merits, but this conflict will be looming in the background.
(snip)
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2016/12/14/13940866/trump-rex-tillerson-sanctions-russia
Irish_Dem
(47,791 posts)How much money has Tillerson funneled to Trump?
The oligarchs only care about money and power.
BumRushDaShow
(129,939 posts)so I expect he is doing all kinds of stuff behind the scenes.
Traurigkeit
(378 posts)Irish_Dem
(47,791 posts)No amount of money is ever enough.
BigmanPigman
(51,650 posts)"A fucking moron".
Warpy
(111,435 posts)Perhaps it's machinery they count on for transport and fuel extraction and refining, already stolen and partially blown up.
Or mayvw it's all the mall favorites from McD's to US retail clothing stores--nope, already sold for pennies on the dollar, names changed.
It rather beggars the imagination to come up with something left for Putin to steal, either from his own people or from the US and its NATO allies.
We can hurt him one hell of a lot more than he can hurt us and he knows it.
paleotn
(18,012 posts)Those leased airliners owned by western leasing companies, even if the war ended today they're still a total write off. No way Russian airlines could maintain them properly through sanctions and what maintenance documentation there is can't be trusted. They'll never be certified as air worthy again outside of Russia. A total loss.
Warpy
(111,435 posts)but the Russians are doing maintenance on the planes, although not to Boeing standards, they don't have enough parts for that.
Little stuff is going wrong, like LCD screens or overhead lights not working., that's what the passengers are seeing.
Engines aren't falling off yet. Pilots have the last say in whether or not a plane takes off, so if something fails the pre flight safety check, the flight is canceled. That's what is increasing now.
Eventually, some routes will be cancelled completely. Taking the train would be an option, but trains are now military. In addition, locomotives will be the next failure point as most of them were imported and there are no spare parts there, either.
Russia is falling apart but they are doing the most necessary maintenance on things like planes.
LiberalFighter
(51,290 posts)Igel
(35,387 posts)Or corporations with contracts, which Our Democracy specifically exempted from having to sever economic ties? Keep in mind that last bit was passed by a (D) Senate and signed by President Biden.
They could have been immunized by overriding contract law and forced out, but that's now how 2/3 of the deciding authorities voted.
I was anti-Putin when most were pro-"reset". The '80s didn't want their foreign policy back; the '80s foreign policy wanted to be reincarnated in a slightly new form. And in 2009, 2010, 2011, this was butt-obvious. to those with a clue but not a fellow-traveler crew.
ATACMs should have been shipped to Ukraine in 2014.
Options: Veto this measure and uphold (D) decisions from a few years ago or sign it, make some of us glad, and say "we" were wrong.
BTW, in 2014-15 I was promised that the sanctions against Russia might not free Crimea quickly--it would take years--but they would bring Russia to heel and withdrawal. Personally, a decade is a fairly long time. Unless the speaker in this case meant "within centuries."
Sometimes I hope for a "modern heavy bombardment". Were I to have operational control over where the meteoroids splatted down.
erronis
(15,457 posts)My ability to analyze short items without background information is lacking. If you have any further published information I'd really like to see it.
oldsoftie
(12,662 posts)I never could understand the willingness to give someone like PUTIN any benefit of the doubt. He never hid his disdain for the US or his anger at the dissolution of the USSR. Same with John McCain; in 2015 he told us exactly what Putin was going to do and he was right about ALL of it
JoseBalow
(2,575 posts)Who are these "U.S. citizens and investors" that have "property and cash" in Russia?
I guess some people want to ignore sanctions and warnings and continue to do business in Russia. Greed is a powerful drug. It's a shame that they're gonna lose some stuff.
LakeArenal
(28,867 posts)JoseBalow
(2,575 posts)I say fuck them for their greed and for contributing to the Russian economy. I certainly won't feel bad for them if they lose their stuff.
LakeArenal
(28,867 posts)I enjoy this you tube show.
Farmer-Rick
(10,235 posts)Was that it would make countries interdependent and reduce the risk of war........
So, how did that work out? Not so well.
Laissez-faire economics has always been a con the filthy-rich used to extract riches from the masses.
ancianita
(36,213 posts)You're right. It's likely a good trade.
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0705
Today President Biden is issuing E.O. of April 6, 2022, Prohibiting New Investment in and Certain Services to the Russian Federation in Response to Continued Russian Federation Aggression, to ban all new investment in the Russian Federation by U.S. persons, wherever located, as well as the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a United States person, wherever located, of any category of services as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to any person located in the Russian Federation. These prohibitions follow recently issued Executive Orders 14066 and 14068, which prohibit certain imports and exports involving Russia, and are consistent with commitments made by the G7 leaders to ensure that our citizens are not underwriting Putins war.
NanaCat
(1,482 posts)Any American who still has assets in Russia knew this was a possibility. It's their own fault for not being good citizens and getting out long before now.
Traildogbob
(8,884 posts)Devastating for GQP Senate and Congress. Rand Paul could lose his ass.
Evolve Dammit
(16,812 posts)LiberalLovinLug
(14,179 posts)I wouldn't cater to any of these pro Putin pro war/rape/torture companies anymore.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/russians-still-enjoying-american-burgers-100645638.html?guccounter=1
A small cohort of six American fast-food chains decided otherwise. The franchises of Subway, Carls Jr., Papa Johns, Costa Coffee, Burger King, and TGI Fridays have continued to operate, business as usual.
Of these six, Subway and Carls Jr. boast a unique accolade they are the only Western food chains to never have stopped advertising on their Russian Instagram accounts at any point since the start of the full-scale invasion, actively marketing non-stop to their 20k and 6k followers, respectively.
BlueKota
(1,860 posts)ArkansasDemocrat1
(1,297 posts)Earth-shine
(4,044 posts)Years ago, because of their political contributions, BK was said to lean Democratic while McDs was Republican.
Thank you for this info.
Oneironaut
(5,540 posts)US cities into cookie cutter hellholes. I hope they go bankrupt. Lol
TeamProg
(6,337 posts)Kaleva
(36,394 posts)Emrys
(7,288 posts)Russia has drawn up plans to seize the assets of western companies leaving the country as the Kremlin pushes back against sweeping sanctions and the exodus of international businesses since its invasion of Ukraine.
Announcing the move after a string of global firms said they would suspend operations in Russia this week, including McDonalds, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the countrys economic ministry said it could take temporary control of departing businesses where foreign ownership exceeds 25%.
Speaking in a video link with members of his government on Thursday, Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin could find legally viable ways to seize international firms. The government would push to introduce external management and then transfer these enterprises to those who actually want to work, Putin said. There are enough legal and market instruments for this.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/10/russia-plans-to-seize-assets-of-western-companies-exiting-country
From July 2023:
Seizures of Danone, Carlsbergs operations sound a warning shot to Western companies looking to exit Russia
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-steps-up-economic-war-with-west-seizing-assets-of-big-conglomerates-e592f137
BumRushDaShow
(129,939 posts)Now they are talking about "people" (investors, private U.S. citizens).
ETA - might I speculate about this guy - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=3232195
Glamrock
(11,803 posts)Biden moves to destroy McDonalds!
Evolve Dammit
(16,812 posts)blue-wave
(4,374 posts)are an international pariah state. It was Bill Browder who years ago brought attention to Russia's brutality. Browder's doggedness culminated in the passing of the Magnitsky Act. Now Bill Browder is advocating that the $300 billion in frozen Russian assets be released so Ukraine can use that money for its' defense. I wholeheartedly agree. Posting a video immediately after this comment in "Latest Videos" with Browder's interview for the Kyiv Post.
orangecrush
(19,662 posts)BlueKota
(1,860 posts)If they invested in Russia to begin with, they will just be victims of their own stupidity and greed.
erronis
(15,457 posts)Just a couple of examples of companies that profited from holdings in Germany during WW-II.
Of course semi-conductors weren't around at that time and they are incredibly difficult to control access. Software much worse.
orangecrush
(19,662 posts)While you're at it Vlad
oldsoftie
(12,662 posts)Oneironaut
(5,540 posts)Imagine Ted Cruz being dropped on your doorstep? Ew.
enki23
(7,791 posts).
Turbineguy
(37,412 posts)Russia doesn't have the weather to grow bananas.
sheshe2
(84,032 posts)In Too Deep
(60 posts)Shermanator
(45 posts)has any assets in Russia, it should be seized for them being so stupid.
Pototan
(1,237 posts)Anyone who still has business, investments or property in Russia and they lose them, I really don't much give a fuck.
Pototan
(1,237 posts)RainCaster
(10,951 posts)We lost all that shit a long time ago, and haven't thought about it for many years. What's the big deal?
John Shaft
(286 posts)I'll make sure to ask the homeless folks, the people sitting at the bus stop, and the people working at the gas station where I get morning coffee about their Russian investments. Give 'em a heads up.
HAB911
(8,945 posts)Chainfire
(17,750 posts)ToxMarz
(2,169 posts)I don't have any assets in Russia. Pretty sure no ones assets I give a shit about are there either.
Bucky
(54,094 posts)Anyway, I imagine that, as a fraction of total wealth, the Russian 'garcs have a lot more wealth invested out of Russia then the Riches to have kept sunk into Russia. It's not a big threat.
PortTack
(32,820 posts)Their with his young family. Moved because they wanted their children away from the LBQT community. The Russians took all their money and now their stuck their.
Ppl who lose their money..were you paying any attention to reality? As far as business owners, bankers and investors they know what Russia does!
IronLionZion
(45,623 posts)America was too woke for these idiots
These 2 claim Russia is safer for children somehow and they and the Russians share a dislike of the US government.
IronLionZion
(45,623 posts)to keep it away from the IRS, you know, since Dems are taxing them to death. Republican money will be safe in Russia.
Oneironaut
(5,540 posts)That sounds like killing two birds with one stone.
Historic NY
(37,458 posts)They can have it all.