Russian National Wealth Fund has no more euros in its accounts

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Russian Finance Ministry announced Wednesday that the National Wealth Fund (NWF) has no more euros in its accounts.

The ministry said it sold all reserves in European currency to cover the budget deficit at the end of 2023.

"In December 2023, part of the NWF funds in accounts with the Bank of Russia ... were sold,” it said. “The proceeds were credited to ... the federal budget in order to finance its deficit. As a result of these conversion operations, a zero balance was formed on the euro account in the Bank of Russia.”

Currently, the Fund has only rubles, gold and yuan.

Russia has long been fighting for the "de-dollarization" of the global economy since Washington started weaponizing its national currency using it as the main sanction tool.

The National Wealth Fund abandoned investments in the dollar in 2021, the same year it sold all of its assets in US currency. In 2022, it also emptied its accounts in the British pound and Japanese yen.

The Russian National Wealth Fund was created in 2008 as a "safety cushion" that allows the state to compensate for the loss of oil and gas revenues in the event of a sharp drop in prices.