Exclusive-Nine European countries protest against IMF resuming missions to Russia

By Jan Strupczewski

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Nine European countries protested on Friday against the International Monetary Fund's plans to resume missions to Russia, saying it would damage the reputation of the Fund to resume dialogue with a country that has invaded another.

After Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the IMF stopped its annual consultations with Russia, which the Washington-based lender of last resort does for all its members.

But on Sept 2, the IMF's Russian executive director Aleksei Mozhin told Reuters the Fund would re-start online consultations on Sept. 16, and continue with an IMF delegation visit to Moscow for meetings with Russian officials until Oct. 1.

"We would like to express our strong dissatisfaction with such IMF plans," the finance ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Poland said in a letter to IMF head Kristalina Georgieva, seen by Reuters.

Georgieva is attending a meeting of EU finance ministers and central bankers in Budapest and they will ask her about the IMF's plans there, EU officials said.

"What recommendations does the IMF want to give Russia at the end of the consultation? How to better run a war economy?" one senior euro zone official said.

The letter said that as an aggressor country, Russia should not get the benefit of IMF advice and noted that if the IMF went through with its plans, it would diminish the willingness of donor countries to support Ukraine through IMF initiatives, because it would undermine trust in the IMF.

"Donors can choose other institutions like the World Bank or the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development," the senior official said.

The letter also said any data Russia would provide the IMF would be censored to show the country's economy was allegedly doing well and resisting Western sanctions, making the IMF's assessment inaccurate.

Moscow would also use mission for its own propaganda purposes and it would damage the IMF's reputation, it said.

"We thus call on the IMF not to resume cooperation with Russia and to remain committed to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter," the nine countries said.

"We urge all international financial institutions, including the IMF and its management, to continue refraining from the activities involving the aggressor state and not to resume dialogue as long as Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine," the letter said.

The IMF said on Thursday its planned visit to Russia was in line with its regular obligations as well as those of Russia as a member country.

The IMF's last annual mission visited Russia in November 2019, before the start of the COVID pandemic. There have been no IMF missions to Russia since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Many Western nations raised the possibility of Russia’s expulsion from the IMF in the aftermath of the Ukraine invasion, but that proved difficult because of reluctance from other members with large voting quotas such as China and India.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philippa Fletcher)