Spox refutes forced translation of US dollar deposits into rubles

MOSCOW, Sep 14 (PRIME) -- The government does not consider initiating a forced translation of U.S. dollar-denominated deposits into rubles if the U.S. introduces sanctions against Russian banks, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

“No, nothing like that has been initiated by the administration. There is nothing like that at all, as far as I know,” he said.

Peskov also declined to comment on VTB Bank CEO Andrei Kostin’s statements in an interview with Bloomberg that the bank’s clients may find they are unable to take back their U.S. dollars if new sanctions proposed by U.S. lawmakers take effect.

“At the present time I am a press secretary of Putin, not Kostin, so I will permit myself to withhold judgement,” he said.

The wish to reduce the use of the U.S. dollars is a reaction to unpredictable and controversial actions of the U.S. from the point of view of the international law, Peskov also said. The process of withdrawal from global settlement in the currency has already been continuing, but the Russian government has not yet prepared any clear plan on the issue, he added.

Kostin earlier presented a plan to withdraw from U.S. dollars, he said in an interview with Izvestiya daily released on Friday.

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