Under the swap deal, foreign investors would have the opportunity to use funds frozen in Russia to buy the assets of Russian companies that have been immobilised in Europe – and vice versa.

No specific targets have been set, but Alexey Sedushkin, CEO of Investitsionnaya Palata (Investment Chamber), the broker appointed by the finance ministry to run the scheme, told Reuters he hoped that at least half of the broker’s clients would participate.

“If we talk about figures, these are our subjective, approximate estimates, that potentially individuals could submit for the redemption of securities in the range of 30-50 billion roubles,” Sedushkin said.