The International Monetary Fund is postponing its first long-awaited visit to Russia since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine until further notice, the Financial Times, according to which the decision is linked to pressure from Kiev's European allies.
The Fund's inspectors were supposed to arrive in Moscow at the end of the month for a routine visit to draft Article IV on Russia's economic situation. But the announcement has sparked a furore. protests from 9 European countries, condensed in a letter delivered to the head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, which at last week's Ecofin meeting had confirmed its mission after 5 years of absence.
To the press agency Ria Novosti, Alexei Mozhin, executive director of the Russia department at the IMF, informed that Moscow would in any case be ready to welcome the IMF mission. “The Russian side was ready for the start of consultations on September 16,” Mozhin noted.
Protests by 9 countries allied with Kiev
Poland, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Iceland and Norway had warned of the consequences of the visit from the point of view of reputation of the IMF. “It would have signaled to the international community that the IMF is ready to return to business as usual, taking a step towards normalizing relations with the aggressor,” the newspaper reports.
The letter also said that any data Russia provided to the IMF would be censored to show that the country's economy was supposedly doing well and resisting Western sanctions, making the IMF's assessment inaccurate. Moscow would also use the mission for its own propaganda purposes and damage the IMF's reputation, it said.
“We therefore call on the IMF not to resume cooperation with Russia and to remain committed to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter,” the nine countries said. “We urge all international financial institutions, including the IMF and its leadership, to continue to refrain from activities involving the aggressor state and not to resume dialogue as long as Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine,” the letter reads, as reported Reuters.
