Since the invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has increasingly put the Russian economy on a war footing. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is taking an active part in this.
That's according to Bloomberg, Ukrinform reports.
As noted, the bank is headed by Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, military officer Sergey Belov. In particular, he is responsible for the so-called field offices of the bank.
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has nearly 90 such field offices operating near forward military units. They meet the banking needs of the military, from opening a current account or withdrawing cash to money transfers and even issuing their own payment cards.
Unlike the formal head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina, and other senior officials, Belov is not under international sanctions. He graduated from the Economic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Defense and previously headed the Central Bank's department in Sevastopol.
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Belov's activities expanded after Russia occupied parts of four regions of eastern and southern Ukraine. This year, a government decree authorized "field offices" to manage budget funds for residents of the occupied territories. In February, he also attended a meeting in occupied Mariupol on financial services.
As Ukrinform reported, a group of U.S. congressmen called on President Joe Biden to transfer the assets of the Russian Central Bank frozen due to sanctions to Kyiv.
