Russia's Industry and Trade Ministry is considering switching to settlements in national currencies as a response to new U.S. sanctions, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said on the air with Rossiya 24 TV Channel.
"We are trying to remove these restrictions by switching to settlements in national currencies," he noted.
The U.S. administration's sanctions, imposed on Russia following the alleged use of a 'Novichok' nerve agent in an attempt to assassinate UK citizen Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal on March 4, came in effect today.
Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on August 10 that the possible tightening up of U.S. sanctions against Russia may be treated as a declaration of economic war, which must be responded by all economic, political and other means possible.
The advisor on macroeconomics to the CEO of the 'Opening-Broker' brokerage house, economist Sergey Hestanov, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that in practice, not so many countries are able to switch to settlements in national currencies. "First of all, it requires a really stable currency. For obvious reasons, the ruble is not suitable for this role, therefore, probably the only country from the number of our partners, which is ready to from settlements in dollars, is China. In addition, such a transition will require recalculation of dollar contracts, which will at least take time for serious negotiations," he explained.
"The countries willing to trade with Russia not for dollars are not yet observed, most suppliers, especially those who work with long-term contracts, are interested in using a stable currency. 80% of world trade is priced in US dollars, so, theoretically switching to alternative currencies is possible, but in practice it will be difficult. We will have to come up with some kind of price formula that would reduce risks of participants in long-term contracts," Sergei Hestanov warned.
He also drew attention to the fact that Russians should not worry about a possible ban on the dollar's circulation in Russia. "The circulation of the dollar in Russia is a little dependent on international trade. As long as the Central Bank does not explicitly prohibits it, nothing special will happen," the advisor on macroeconomics to the CEO of the 'Opening-Broker' brokerage house said.
The professor at the department of the stock market and investments at the Higher School of Economics, Alexander Abramov, in turn, pointed out that China, and the EEU states are the countries that are already able to switch to settlements in national currencies with Russia. "Perhaps in some cases it is possible with the countries of Latin America, with exporters of fruits and vegetables: some African countries, Egypt, Morocco, Madagascar," the expert said.
Speaking about which countries are potentially interested in non-dollar trade with Russia, he noted that these are mainly those states that expect some inducements from the Russian Federation in market transactions from Russia. "These are Venezuela and other Latin American countries, the countries of the Eurasian basin. In some cases it could be Iran, which is an exporter of vegetables, fruits and some other goods to Russia. It can also be done with the countries that buy Russian arms on credit," the professor at the department of the stock market and investments at the Higher School of Economics said.
In addition, Abramov noted that getting rid of the dollar in no way affect its circulation in Russia.
