New Delhi considering switching to rupee-ruble settlements amid sanctions on Moscow
RT.com – 5 Mar, 2022 10:14
India is in search of efficient tools to skirt around the latest penalties imposed on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, as New Delhi looks to keep trade with Moscow going, Indian media reports.
Among the options reportedly being considered are making settlements via foreign financial institutions that don’t operate in countries that have supported the punitive measures against Russia, routing payments through minor Russian lenders unaffected by the SWIFT ban, and boosting its rupee-ruble arrangement.
Russian banking majors Sberbank and Gazprombank have been exempted from the latest sanctions so far due to their essential role in processing payments for the EU’s gas and oil imports from Russia.
“We are looking into this. Even if these banks face sanctions from the US, payments can be made in euros as these transactions are still being carried out until further sanctions,” said a government official, as quoted by The Economic Times.
