Russian Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko announced on Friday that the country will encourage buyers of its agricultural exports to pay in rubles instead of dollars as a means to circumvent Western sanctions. She mentioned that the government is drafting a decree that will enable buyers to open special ruble accounts to achieve this. Abramchenko confirmed that the decree "will facilitate friendly countries' access to the food market and allow payments for food products in national currencies." She described this as a tool to protect Russian exporters and the "friendly" countries from the pressure of sanctions.
She added: "Our partners have been accustomed to receiving high-quality Russian food uninterruptedly, and we will continue these deliveries." Russia has long been calling for its state agricultural bank to be reconnected to the global SWIFT payment network, from which it was excluded following the invasion of Ukraine last year. The failure to restore this connection was one of the reasons for its withdrawal last week from the Ukrainian grain export agreement via the Black Sea ports. President Vladimir Putin highlighted the need to shift to national currencies in trade transactions in a speech delivered at the African-Russian summit in Saint Petersburg on Thursday.
