Page 59 - RusRPTNov18

the government sources claim that the work on the plan "is not linked to any personal initiatives."
The plan reportedly is not restrictive in nature, but rather seeks to facilitate national currency transactions, easier currency controls, and liberalisation of currency legislation, according to the sources of The Bell and Vedomosti d aily.
The stress that Oreshkin's statement puts on China's participation in the de-dollarisation effort contrasts with recent reports that Chinese banks are de-facto complying with the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU against Russia .
The US dollar remains the main currency in trade deals with China, despite numerous efforts from Kremlin to bring the trade relations to national currencies. According to CBR data 88% of export deals to China and 74% of imports of Chinese goods are carried out in US dollars. The share of rubles in bilateral trade is only at 3.8%, while yuan accounts for 8%.
7.1 FX issues
The government plans to push the state-owned enterprises (SOE) into increasing the amount of international transactions they settle in rubles as part of the on going effort to reduce the use of the US dollar, the Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov said at the Rossiya 24 TV channel, without specifying the scope and timing of the effort. Siluanov’s comments follow reports that the government is designing a package of measures aimed at lowering Russia's dependency on US dollar and facilitating ruble transactions, especially in cross-border trade.
Siluanov also said that "circulation and savings in [the US] dollar is the [free] choice of every citizen", adding that no one should "run to the banks and withdraw currency." Russian have recently being exactly that, especially following comments by VTB CEO Andrei Kostin suggesting that dollar deposits maybe forcibly converted into rubles in the event of harsh new sanctions imposed on Russia by the US this autumn. In August depositors pulled $1.5bn
59 RUSSIA Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com