Indian companies are increasing in place of European companies in Russian market, Vladimir L. pribitkinThe founder and chairman of the bank told ET in a phone interview. This is the reason why the business share of Indian companies in our market is definitely going to increase every month, if not every week.
He said the bank based in Russia’s second largest city St Petersburg is actively working towards rupee transactions to support this growing business.
Once Russia starts trading in the rupee or in other currencies, it may not switch back to dollar-ruble, Pribitkin said, also citing that the USD/Euro international settlement for Russian banks is more complicated. was happening.
reserve Bank of India On Monday it allowed invoicing and payments in rupees for international trade, potentially facilitating more bilateral trade with Russia, which is facing sanctions from the West over the Ukraine war.
PSCB is working in the banking sector since 1993. It has branches in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and also has international operations.
“Our bank was the first Russian bank to believe in INR and opened a stable operating correspondent account with India in 2016,” the chairman said.
India and Russia mostly cooperate in pharmacy, programming and food (especially fruits/vegetables).
“In addition, we expect a huge growth in the home appliances segment (for Indian suppliers), as European companies are leaving the corresponding part of the Russian market,” Pribitkin said.
Currently there are only a few banks in Russia that are still able to process international settlements. The largest Russian banks, including SberBank and Alfa Bank, are subject to sanctions. The smallest people don’t have a universal license Central Bank of Russia To cooperate in the correspondent sector.
Petersburg, the PSCB is one of only two that can process settlements abroad.
“As payments in USD/EUR are moving extremely slowly due to complex compliance checks, we are invested in the idea of working even more actively in INR,” Pribytkin said.
With Russia disconnected from the SWIFT system, Russia and its largest allies are developing alternatives to the global payments platform.
“The prospect of a full SWIFT turn-off does not mean much to the Russian Federation and its good old trading partners,” he said.
Banks already have an alternative system for processing international settlements. For the time being, according to Pribytkin, the whole process is going to be unusual and a little more complicated; Yet demand creates supply.
For example, Visa, master card And American Express – All payment gateways – have suspended their services in Russia. Due to this, Russia’s own payment system, MIR, is developing at a rapid pace.
The PSCB boss does not believe that New Delhi will face an unfavorable trade balance due to its trade ties with Russia. India has many unique supplies that Moscow needs and vice versa, he said.
At the end of the previous calendar year, PSCB had total books of 46.628 billion rubles (estimated $762 million).