Russia May Compensate For U.S. Sanctions By Pulling Money From Pension Fund

Flag and map of Russia

Russia’s Economy Minister said Friday that the country would consider pulling money from its national pension fund and using the money to aid firms damaged by Western sanctions.

Other options are on the table as well, including pulling money from Russia’s National Wealth Fund.

From Reuters:

Russia will support companies affected by Western sanctions and it may divert funds from its National Wealth Fund (NWF) or from pensions to do so, local news agencies cited Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev as saying on Friday.

“Of course we will show support to our companies hit by sanctions … There are different forms of support including various custom tariff regimes, possibly direct budget support (and) the possibility of using pension funds or the National Wealth Fund,” RIA quoted Ulyukayev as saying in Brussels.

The move wouldn’t be surprising; Pension360 has previously covered Russia’s willingness to take money from its pension fund to plug budget shortfalls elsewhere.

Since 2013, Russia has frozen more than $30 billion of its pension payments.

 

Photo credit: “Flag-map of Russia” by Aivazovskycommons. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons