Russia's Central Bank Warns Return of Russia's Frozen Reserves May Take Long Time

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The legal process for the return of Russian gold and foreign currency reserves frozen by the West may take a long time, but the work is in progress, the head of the Russian Central Bank (CBR), Elvira Nabiullina, said on Friday.

Western countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia, including freezing its foreign assets, in retaliation for Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine.

"As for gold and foreign currency reserves, the prospects of the judicial return — well, it's a very long process. We are preparing, studying this issue, how to act in the best way," Nabiullina said at a press conference.

In mid-March, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov estimated that about half of Russia's gold and foreign currency reserves worth over $300 billion were frozen. In April, Nabiullina said that the CBR was preparing protection measures for the frozen reserves, including legal ones.