WSJ: Russia tried to create dollar reserve in Türkiye to circumvent sanctions
www.pravda.com.ua
Mon, 03 Feb 2025 12:54:09 +0200
Russia attempted to use the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant NPP project in Trkiye in 2022 to create an offshore dollar reserve to help Moscow circumvent Western sanctions.
Source The Wall Street Journal WSJ with reference to informed sources Details The sources said that the scheme involved highranking Russian officials, including Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina, and Turkish officials from President Recep Erdoans circle, including one of his closest advisers, Turkish National Intelligence Head Ibrahim Kaln.
According to the plan, Gazprombank, one of Russias largest banks that was not under US sanctions at the time, was to provide a loan of about US9 billion for the construction of the Akkuyu NPP, which is being built by Rosatom, Russias stateowned atomic energy corporation.
The money was supposed to be transferred through two American banks JPMorgan and Citigroup to the nuclear power plants account at Ziraat, Trkiyes largest stateowned bank, and then redirected to the accounts of Russian companies in the same credit institution.
In this case, as the WSJ notes, Moscow could have avoided the need to conduct further transactions through the United States.
The loan was covertly financed by the Bank of Russia.
Trkiyes interest in the scheme was explained by the fact that the country could attract the dollars it needed to fight soaring inflation.
The WSJ stressed that Russia had transferred more than US5 billion to Trkiye in the summer of 2022.
However, this attracted the attention of the US Department of Justice, which blocked another US2 billion tranche through JPMorgan.
These funds were frozen, and in 2024, prosecutors began looking to confiscate the money through a civil lawsuit, but President Joe Bidens administration stopped the process due to concerns that it would worsen relations with Trkiye.
Background For the first time in many years, Russia is close to losing its leading position in the global grain market.
In 2025, the countrys grain exports will be reduced by a third.
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