IMF postpones Moscow visit amid backlash from nine nations

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has indefinitely postponed a planned visit to Russia, according to Russian state media on Wednesday. This was to be the first visit of an IMF delegation to Moscow since the attack on Ukraine in February 2022. Nine countries, including Poland, protested against the mission.

According to the Politico portal, the International Monetary Fund informed Russia that the IMF mission's visit to Moscow would be postponed indefinitely due to its lack of technical readiness to conduct consultations.

Opponents of the mission warned that the Kremlin could use the visit for propaganda purposes and might damage the IMF's reputation. They also emphasised that Russia, as an aggressor, should not have access to the Fund's support.

They argued that the mission’s presence in Russia would suggest a normalisation of relations with Russia despite its invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory.

At the beginning of September, Politico reported that the IMF suggested organising a meeting in a third country but ultimately accepted the Kremlin's condition that the mission should go to Russia.

The IMF defended this decision, stating that sending a mission to Moscow is part of the Fund's obligations, as Russia is a member.

Nine countries, including Poland, protested against the mission in a letter to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

According to Reuters, the finance ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, and Norway expressed strong dissatisfaction with the IMF's plans.

What recommendations does the IMF want to give Russia at the end of the consultation? How to better run a war economy? - mocked a high-ranking EU official who requested anonymity.

If the mission's visit to Russia had taken place, the IMF would have become the first major international financial body to pay an official visit to Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine.