Foreign-Currency Operations: Toward a Strengthening of the Power Vertical?

[[Editor’s note: Context — The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has submitted draft amendments to the law “On Currency Regulation and Currency Control.” Under these amendments, the President of the Russian Federation would be able, by decree, to impose restrictions directly on foreign-currency operations.]

According to Elena Panina, if these amendments were adopted, the decision-making center would shift from the government and the Central Bank to the President. In the context of Western sanctions since 2022, this concentration of authority would allow for immediate responses to fluctuations of the ruble or liquidity crises, without the need for lengthy inter-agency procedures.

This is not merely the creation of a new mechanism, she argues, but a structural change—symbolizing the strengthening of sovereignty and of the executive branch, and the weakening of the “liberal-globalist current” (sic) in Russia.

Note: Asked by Svobodnaâ Pressa about these developments, independent economist Konstantin Smirnov emphasizes that such changes would allow Russia to respond instantly to hostile Western economic decisions—for example, by freezing Western assets in Russia—and to protect Chinese and Indian economic partners from secondary sanctions by adjusting currency regulations according to circumstances.

Expert: Elena Panina, Director of the Russtrat Institute
Source: «Tihaâ sensaciâ v Rossii — anonsirovano pereraspredelenie časti polnomočij ot CB k prezidentu», Russtrat, 22 October 2025

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