Russian firms use netting, gold and crypto in transborder payments, watchdog chief tells Putin

By Elena Fabrichnaya and Gleb Bryanski

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian companies are successfully using netting, gold, and cryptocurrency to facilitate international payments, the head of Russia's financial watchdog told President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Netting involves banks managing export and import payments through verified agents, with transactions centrally balanced to ensure counterparties receive their funds.

International payments for Russian trade nearly stalled in the spring of 2024 as banks in Russia's key trading partners, including China, India, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, came under the threat of secondary U.S. sanctions.

The problem has eased substantially since then, with officials saying businesses in Russia and their partners have adapted to the sanctions and found ways to make cross-border payments.

"As for cross-border financial flows... our focus has shifted somewhat, it is now the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the broader Asian region," Russia's financial watchdog chief Yuri Chikhanchin told Putin.

"Alternative forms of settlement are actively being used. These include gold and cryptocurrency. And now netting has appeared, clearing operations, which we are currently looking into," he added.

Chikhanchin is the first high-ranking Russian official to publicly describe in detail the methods used by Russian firms for international payments. Such methods are rarely discussed in public.

Reuters reported in April, citing banking sources who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the subject, that major Russian banks had set up a netting payments system for transactions with China.

According to a transcript published on the Kremlin's website, Putin was curious to know how netting worked and whether the watchdog was tracking such payments.

"Netting is when the exporter allows the importer to use the export proceeds. Instead of the exporter repatriating the funds, the importer brings in goods in advance using that money and settles the payment within the country," Chikhanchin told Putin.

Chikhanchin said that gold was also being used in cross-border transactions, but called for more regulation in the gold trade, saying that the current lax regime results in arbitrage between domestic and international gold prices.

Gold has recently replaced dollar and euro cash in many illegal transactions, according to the finance ministry, which has called for a $10,000 cap on the amount of gold an individual can take out of the country.

Chikhanchin also highlighted a system known as "Transparent Blockchain" being developed by the watchdog with the central bank and Russia's second largest lender VTB, which will enable regulators and banks to monitor cryptocurrency transactions.

The new system is due to become operational by the end of this year.

(Writing by Gleb BryanskiEditing by Gareth Jones)