Russia has developed alternative electronic transfers to circumvent Western restrictions.
‘Mir’ offers an alternative to Visa and MasterCard, which have stopped providing international transaction services to Russian customers
The sanctions also targeted Russia’s holdings of euros and US dollars to prevent the country from trading internationally. However, according to the report, Moscow is putting in place trade mechanisms to allow domestic currency payments with foreign business partners.
“Russia and China have had ruble-yuan payment mechanisms for some time, and earlier this month Turkey expressed a willingness to trade in rubles. In addition, a ruble-rupee swap system has been announced for Russian oil exports to India. India, which until now only bought 3% of its oil imports from Russia, hastened to relaunch its purchases, as has Serbia. This is a sign that Russia has alternatives for exports if the West continues to isolate the country.
To support the rouble, which has suffered a sharp decline against major currencies this month, RT said Russian companies trading abroad have been ordered to sell 80% of their foreign currency earnings and convert them into rubles.
“It should stabilize the national currency and encourage more investment in Russia instead of moving it abroad,” the report said.
The report said Russia temporarily banned grain exports to Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries this week. “The restrictions cover shipments to post-Soviet states that share a free customs zone with Russia. They include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The measure aims to keep the national food market well supplied and prevent prices from skyrocketing.
According to RT, with almost half of the country’s foreign exchange reserves frozen and unavailable to support the depreciation of the rouble, the Russian Central Bank urgently raised the key rate in late February from 9.5 to a record 20% a year. .
“The measure was taken to offset increased risks of devaluation and inflation, or simply to help maintain price stability and protect citizens’ savings against depreciation.”
He said the regulator has also launched additional measures to support lending institutions and recommended banks not to charge interest and penalties on loans, as well as allowing the restructuring of payments and leave of absences. repayment.
“These moves helped stabilize the rouble, which posted six consecutive days of gains against the euro and the dollar, starting on Thursday,” he said.
Russia authorized two payments to bondholders totaling $117 million, the report said. The money comes from the country’s accounts frozen abroad.
“It is now up to the United States and its allies to approve the transfer. If they don’t, the Russian government has ordered that the debt be paid in rubles at the central bank’s official exchange rate at the time of the transfer,” he added.