Russia’s Sanctioned Former Central Banker Becomes IMF Rep

Ksenia Yudaeva, an adviser to Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina, will become Russia's new Executive Director from the Russian Federation at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Moscow's current representative said on Tuesday, Reuters and Bloomberg reported.

The United States imposed sanctions against Yudaeva after the start of invasion against Ukraine, on April, 20, 2022, adding her to OFAC's list of Specially Designated Nationals. 

The International Anti-Corruption Foundation, founded by Aleksei Navalny, puts Yudaeva in the category of “Top bribetakers and warmongers” on their sanctions database. 

“Alongside her superior Elvira Nabiullina, Ksenia Yudaeva is a key figure in ensuring the financial stability of the Russian economy amid Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine. Her activities play an important role in Russia's resistance to international sanctions pressure from the international community. She remains one of the de facto leaders of the Central Bank of Russia. Her transition from the position of First Deputy Chairperson of the Central Bank of Russia is linked to an attempt to minimize her personal sanction risks,” Yudaeva’s biography on the website reports. 

The news came on the same day when Reuters reported about IMF sending its first mission to Russia since its full-scale Ukraine invasion. “The International Monetary Fund mission would start via an online format on Sept. 16, and will continue with an IMF delegation visit to Moscow for meetings with Russian officials until Oct. 1,” Reuters reported citing Aleksei Mozhin, Executive Director for Russia.

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"We were excluded from this process under pressure from our Western 'friends' and there were no further missions in 2022-23," Mozhin said from his IMF office in Washington, Reuters reported. 

Kyiv Post sent the IMF a request for comment. 

“I understand that the IMF has decided that this invasion is over and we can return to normal relations,” Tymofiy Mylovanov, the president of Kyiv School of Economics, sarcastically wrote in his Facebook post. 

Mylovanov accused the IMF for not adhering to the ethics since the fund agreed to both send a mission to Russia and appoint a sanctioned Russian official. 

“US sanctions do not apply to the IMF. What right does the IMF have to say something to someone after that? This is a complete destruction of reputation,” he wrote. 

Russian media proved Yudaeva will start working from November, 2024

Kommersant wrote that Yudaeva will replace the previous Russian representative Aleksei Mozhin, Executive Director for Russia. He has been a Russian representative in the IMF since 1990s. 

Yudaeva’s candidacy was proposed by the Ministry of Finance and supported by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also approved by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, and the decision will be formalized by an order of the Russian government, Russian Interfax reported. 

Russia’s finance ministry confirmed TASS Yudaeva had been nominated for the post. Mozhin at the IMF said Yudaeva would take over the role on Nov. 1, Russia's RIA news agency reported. 

Yudaeva joined the Bank of Russia at the same time as Nabiullina in 2013. She left the position of the first deputy of Russia’s central bank only after August 2023 – more than a year after Russia invaded Ukraine. 

But she hasn’t left the central bank completely, switching to an advisor in the institution, according to the press release on the bank’s website. 

“He will remain in charge of the development of research and analytics at the Bank of Russia, in the first place the scientific and methodological support for cross-functional projects in data analysis and data-based decision making,” the press release said.