New Delhi: Sberbank, the largest Russian creditor, pilots the cashless payment system for Russian tourists, with the planned launch for the 2025 travel season.
Zveyakhin also emphasized the role of Sberbank as the main financier of Indian exports to Russia. With 500-signing staff, its India Arm uses Rupee-based mechanisms, such as special Vostro accounts to settle investments in trade and channel without relying on third country currencies.
Mint previously said that India and Russia had examined the links between the UPI Indian and the Russian bank, and also integrated the Indian Rupay with Russian Mir cards.
Modified excerpts from the interview:
Sberbank recently announced the initiatives to stimulate the trade with rubles and rubles. What concrete steps will be taken to expand two -sided business settlements in national currencies?
Our first priority is speed. We have ensured that 60% of payments from Russia to India now take less than 10 minutes and try to increase this share.
To help businesses on a larger scale, our business development project provides services that help companies find suppliers, perform negotiations and use flexible financial tools. Our teams in Russia and India work together to quickly and precisely compare business partners based on clients’ needs.
We also focus on our private clients. Indians working in Russia can conveniently convert home funds via the online Sberbank application, with the current volumes of the monthly transfer exceeding 1 billion rubles. We also noticed a massive increase (on average 150% per week) in salaries for education of Indian students at Russian universities.
For tourists we are developing the possibility of non -transfer. We are already testing this solution and we expect to provide it to thousands of Russian tourists visiting India by the beginning of the 2025 tourist season.
Sberbank has been in India since 2010. We grew up from a small office to a full -fledged bank and offer a number of financial services. Today, our offices are customer services in Delhi and Mumbai.
In Bengalur, we also founded the main IT Center (information technology), which started in July 2023, to support our Indian operations and the development of new digital products. This center, which includes its own data processing equipment, currently employs more than 200 experts and is intended to extend to more than 300. HUB is a key part of our strategy for using global technological talents and management of digital innovation.
It is reported that Russian oil is offered for 5% discount. How does Sberbank facilitate and ensure transactions for Indian importers?
The Sberbank branch in India is a local Indian bank with a local banking license and an authorized first category dealer. We are ready to provide reliable settlements for clients in any industry.
Russia expressed their willingness to import goods from India if the supplier channels via the US remain limited. In which sectors do you expect the fastest growth of rape trade and rubles?
We expect a significant increase in trade turnover regardless of third -country political decisions. Russia and India have great potential for the development of their relationship.
We improve our logistics and financial infrastructure to create a comfortable business environment in both countries. We expect the turnover of trade to grow first in engineering, building materials, electronics and IT, medicines and agriculture.
What measures are introduced to ensure smoother settlements, risk management and scaling of business infrastructure in Rupia and Rubes?
What makes Sberbank unique is how closely our independent, licensed branch in India cooperates with our headquarters in Russia. We join forces to develop financial and infrastructure solutions.
For example, in financing Indian exports to Russia, Indian suppliers can now receive a payment for their goods immediately without waiting for the period of delay of the contract. Our branch in India provides funds either by reducing the letter of credit or issuing a loan on the ship secured by the payment of a Russian buyer.
As one of the largest Russian banks, we have a deep understanding to our clients, allowing us to assess the risks and this procedure quickly and trouble -free for Indian debtors.
India Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently enabled AD-1 banks to open special Rupee Vostro (SRVAS) accounts for foreign correspondent banks without prior consent. How does Sberbank use these accounts to facilitate trade?
Sberbank has been actively using SRVA since this financial instrument was available in 2022. The main advantage is the ability to use Rupees from Russian exports immediately to the purchase of Indian goods, transfer or invest in India without having to convert them to rubles or other currencies.
This significantly speeds up payments and transfers that are essential for thousands of Indian exporters and tens of thousands of Indian migrant workers who send money home to their families every month. For Russian businesses, thanks to this fast and reliable Payment -based SRVA, India makes India an extremely attractive destination for other trade and investment.
Now that RBI allows the funds to be freely invested in government securities and state accounts in these accounts, what impact will it have on liquidity and settlement for bilateral trade?
We welcome the gradual liberalization of how SRVA’s balance can be used. This is primarily focused on the interests of the Indian economy.
Incorporating the Indian Government securities in the global diversified JPMorgan GBI-Em in September 2023 has already increased the interest of foreign investors on the Indian debt market. We expect RBI measures to further increase the attraction of rupees as an investment vehicle and a means of bilateral settlement.
(Tagstotranslate) Rupee Ruble Trade
