As many as 52 foreign organizations from 12 countries have joined the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS, an analogue of SWIFT), Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said addressing the State Duma (lower house) on Monday.
"When the threat of being cut off from SWIFT appeared in 2014 for the first time, we developed the SPFS of the Bank of Russia, which operates under SWIFT standards. Foreign participants interested in working with Russian partners can join it and are already joining it. Currently 52 foreign organizations from 12 countries are SPFS users," she said.
Sanctions have cut off a large part of the Russian economy, both banks and companies, from settlements in reserve currencies, Nabiullina noted. "It is important for us to develop payments in national currencies. Here we are not starting from scratch either. We have already launched and developed such bilateral projects with a number of countries. We are currently holding negotiations with partners in various countries in a move to normalize the situation with payments and settlements as soon as possible," she said.
