When Elvira Nabiullina announced on Monday that the key interest rate would be raised to 20 percent as a result of the most severe sanctions imposed on Russia to date, observers immediately noticed one thing: the head of the Russian central bank was not wearing a brooch.

Previously, Nabiullina had always worn different badges at her press conferences, which were interpreted as signals for the state of the Russian economy and the future direction of monetary policy: if the key interest rate was lowered, Nabiullina wore a dove brooch, the symbol of loose monetary policy;

the right hawk in the event of a rate hike.

Catherine Wagner

Business correspondent for Russia and the CIS based in Moscow.

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During the first and only Corona lockdown in spring 2020, a cottage brooch hung on her lapel;

when interest rates remained unchanged, a pause sign.

On the Russian Internet there are entire series of photos of Nabiullina's jewelry, which she says she wants to use to improve the central bank's communication. Central bankers are often too serious, she said last year, and they use awkward phrases.

She is trying to change that, also through the "different language" of the brooches.

The fact that Nabiullina demonstratively refrained from playing this game with the public on Monday shows how seriously she takes the situation - a brooch that truthfully depicts the state and future of the Russian economy would probably only have caused panic.

Her black suit was also seen by some journalists as a sign of "mourning".

Nabiullina is one of three people that President Vladimir Putin relies on to prop up Russia's financial system – alongside her, these include the heads of the two largest state-controlled banks, Sber's German Gref and VTB's Andrei Kostin.

All three are likely to be anything but enthusiastic about Putin's decision to attack the neighboring country, the consequences of which for the Russian financial market and the economy are far from being fully foreseeable.

They have all done a lot in recent years to modernize their institutes and adapt them to a globally networked financial world.

Now, much of their effort is wasted in a matter of days.

Appreciated by Putin

Nabiullina and Gref in particular are likely to be hit hard by Russia's potential relapse into chaos and instability, both of which still remember them from the 1990s.

At the beginning of their careers, both worked together for reforms, for the opening and liberalization of the post-Soviet economy.

At the end of 1999, Nabiullina worked under Gref's direction in the think tank "Center for Strategic Preparations", which drafted the economic policy program of the presidential candidate Vladimir Putin and a reform strategy for the years up to 2010, which, however, was never implemented.

When Gref became Minister for Economic Development and Trade after Putin's election victory, he brought Nabiullina to his side as his deputy.

In 2007, Gref became the head of Sber, which was then called Sberbank, and Nabiullina became Minister of Economy.

The economics graduate moved even closer to the president in the spring of 2012, when she switched to the presidential administration for a year as Putin's assistant for economic issues.

She was finally appointed head of the central bank in 2013 and had to cope with a severe crisis the following year when the ruble lost half its value within a short period of time as a result of sanctions for the annexation of Crimea and Russia's military interference in eastern Ukraine.

Nabiullina initially tried to support the currency, which later earned her the criticism of having wasted many billions of dollars senselessly.

In November, Nabiullina finally floated the exchange rate,

it was not until mid-December that it raised the key interest rate to 17 percent in order to fend off a run on the banks.

After that, it was reluctant to lower it for years, which frustrated many entrepreneurs.

But both in the Kremlin and internationally, Nabiullina was hailed for stabilizing Russia's macroeconomic system and bringing inflation below 4 percent, the lowest in history.

Putin himself, who is said to think highly of her, ensured that her term of office was extended by another 5 years in 2017.

To have stabilized Russia macroeconomically and brought inflation below 4 percent, the lowest level in history.

Putin himself, who is said to think highly of her, ensured that her term of office was extended by another 5 years in 2017.

To have stabilized Russia macroeconomically and brought inflation below 4 percent, the lowest level in history.

Putin himself, who is said to think highly of her, ensured that her term of office was extended by another 5 years in 2017.