KAZAN, Russia (Reuters) – Cross-border payments for trade between BRICS countries are experiencing problems, but there are no plans to create a special system because existing infrastructure is sufficient, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.
Delays in payments for trade with Russia’s main trading partners such as China or Turkey, where banks are under pressure from Western regulators to scrutinize transactions with Russia, have become a major problem for Russian companies and banks.
Ahead of the summit, Russia outlined an alternative payment system in national BRICS currency, which would include a new messaging system and a network of national commercial banks linked through the BRICS central banks.
“The question is very important today. One of the most important issues is the problem of settlements,” Putin told the press conference after the summit.
The Russian-hosted summit of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – ended on Thursday.
Putin said the existing financial messaging system created by the Russian central bank, and similar systems of other central banks of the BRICS countries, could be used to facilitate mutual payments in national currencies.
“But we are not inventing a separate joint system for the time being. What we already have is, on the whole, sufficient,” Putin said.
