Berliner Zeitung: IMF plans to visit Russia as 'explosive news'

For the first time since the start of the special operation in Ukraine, a delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is to visit Russia to assess the economic and financial situation in the country. According to the Berliner Zeitung publication, this is "explosive news".

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Aleksei Mozhin, the IMF's executive director in Russia, announced a possible visit of the IMF delegation to the country. He noted that the IMF would be the first international financial organization to officially send a mission to Russia since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.

The work of the mission will begin online on September 16. Afterwards, the delegation will arrive in Moscow to hold meetings with Russian officials.

The consultations will continue through October 1 under the leadership of Argentine economist Jacques Mignan.

Since the start of the military operation in Ukraine, Western countries have been criticising the IMF for what they see as overly optimistic forecasts for the sanctions-hit Russian economy.

The last IMF mission to Russia took place in November 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In 2022 and 2023, no missions were conducted due to pressure from Western countries," Aleksei Mozhin said.

After the start of the conflict, Western countries proposed excluding Russia from the IMF, but China and India, which have significant influence in the organization, did not allow this to happen. It is worthy of note that the IMF requires legal grounds for any decision related to the seizure of frozen Russian assets. In this regard, the forthcoming visit of the delegation may clarify this issue.

Aleksei Mozhin, who oversaw Russia's accession to the IMF in 1992 after the collapse of the USSR, is set to step down as executive director on November 1. The Russian Finance Ministry proposed Ksenia Yudaeva, a former deputy chairperson of the Central Bank of Russia, to replace him.

However, Yudaeva's appointment deems controversial, as she has been under US sanctions since 2022. Ksenia Yudaeva previously worked at Otkritie Bank, which belonged to the Central Bank and was later sold to VTB.

Yudaeva left her post as deputy head of the Central Bank in August 2023, but remained an adviser to its chairperson Elvira Nabiullina. She also left the sanctioned Otkritie Bank.

According to Alexey Mozhin, Ksenia Yudaeva will have to run the office from Moscow, as sanctions prevent her from visiting the United States, where the IMF is headquartered. He did not specify whether Yudaeva would be able to work in the Washington office in the future. The official press release said that the IMF was still considering her candidacy.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 190 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of last resort to national governments, and a leading supporter of exchange-rate stability. Its stated mission is "working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world."