Russian govt commission, Central Bank board to set amount, timeframes for mandatory sale of forex earnings - decree

MOSCOW. June 9 (Interfax) - The Russian government's mechanism for the mandatory sale of forex earnings that was introduced at the end of February in response to the sanctions imposed against Russia, and repeatedly eased since that time, is becoming even more flexible, as per the presidential decree of June 9.

Initially, exporters were required to sell 80% of their respective forex earnings within three days, and then the requirement was eased to 50% of forex earnings sold within two months. Meantime, exporters could deviate from the requirement upon obtaining permission from the authorities. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that eased standards had been set for individual exporters for the sale of forex earnings, without specifying which companies this entailed.

As of today, according to the presidential decree, the government commission on foreign investment sets the amount of the mandatory sale of forex earnings that exporters must sell, and the board of directors of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) sets the timeframes for selling the forex earnings.