Page 103 - RusRPTJul22

7.1 FX issues
Sberbank suspends cross-border transfers in yuan. The plans of the Russian authorities to switch to settlements in national currencies in trade with partners are hampered by sanctions: at the beginning of the week, Reuters reported that Sberbank had difficulties converting rupees into rubles (although the bank denies this), now the state bank has suspended cross-border transfers in yuan .
The fact that Sberbank has not been making cross-border transfers in yuan since June 7 was first reported to Frank Media correspondents at the call center of the credit institution. The operators explained this by the "policy of the correspondent bank", without specifying what kind of bank it was. The call center noted that legal entity clients were warned about this by a letter and recommended that they temporarily make settlements through other partner banks, leaving contracts with Sberbank, or switch to other credit organizations that make settlements in yuan.
A Sberbank representative later confirmed to Frank Media that the bank had suspended yuan payments. According to him, this "temporary measure" affected corporate clients - participants in foreign economic activity, conducting settlements in Chinese currency. “At the moment, the bank is working with Chinese partners to resolve the situation and restore settlements,” Sberbank added.
103 RUSSIA Country Report October 2020 www.intellinews.com