Payments went on a crooked path – Kommersant FM
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Russia is looking for acceptable options to resolve the situation with Turkish banks, the Kremlin said. Ankara is subject to “unprecedented, undisguised and aggressive pressure” from the United States, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted, commenting on the report that Turkish banks began to close accounts of clients from Russia. They started freezing payments a month ago and the service is still suspended, businessmen who trade with Turkey told Vedomosti.
Local banks sharply tightened conditions following an executive order by US President Joe Biden on December 22, 2023. The document gave the US Treasury the authority to impose simplified restrictions on foreign banks that violate sanctions against Russia.
Sources of Vedomosti reported that four banks loyal to Russians remained in Turkey, but they are now terminating relations with their previous clients. Businessmen are forced to look for workarounds, Arsen Ayupov, partner of the NSP law firm and president of the Russian-Turkish Dialogue Association, confirmed to Kommersant FM: “Accounts are closed selectively and mainly in small banks, such as Emlak Katilim, VakifBank, etc. , because they are easier to influence.
Many Turkish banks now have European and American investments in their capital, so they have direct access to ongoing transactions, not to mention those that take place in euros and dollars.
Therefore, this is both pressure from the Turkish financial authorities and influence from the banking sector. I would look for workarounds even if there are no problems right now, because they might come. There are options using friendly jurisdictions, many work through Kazakhstan and Dubai. Now, probably, the most popular option is to either work with larger banks.”
The freezing of accounts in Turkish banks affected primarily businesses that used the republic as a transit jurisdiction for payments and deliveries, said Ivan Sapiro, whose company is also serviced through Turkish banks: “The tightening is associated with those who use Turkey as an intermediate country for transferring money to record them on paper.
These are either those who deal with cryptocurrency, or logisticians who did not import the goods, so their accounts are blocked. This is done to ensure that sanctioned goods do not pass through the country. They must prove that they work honestly and the information in the documents is true. If this is proven, then the accounts will be unfrozen.”
Kommersant FM’s interlocutors compare today’s situation with the blocking of parallel imports last spring. Then Türkiye suddenly stopped the transit of sanctioned goods to Russia, prohibiting customs clearance. Moscow also explained this by pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to whom Western countries “exposed very tough economic conditions.”
But businessmen quickly got their bearings and found alternative solutions. It will be the same now, Anna Fomicheva, co-founder of the multi-service platform for business “DIGITAL VED”, is convinced. According to her, the price of this decision will be a new rise in prices for goods for Russians:
“Only for some food products we can make payments to Turkey, but there are very few banks that accept funds, and the range is very small. But the main direction of trade is not only food, but also consumer goods, equipment, and parallel imports.
And today we are faced with the fact that we have to use foreign trading houses through which we transit funds, there is no other way. That is, we send either rubles or yuan abroad to our trading houses, then we buy back euros and send them to Turkey.
I talked with my Turkish partner, who also says that no solutions have been found yet. Even if there is no decision from the Turkish partners, we will continue to make payments through trade transit houses. I don’t see any difficulty here at all. The only thing is that they charge 3-5% of the price of goods for transit, and, therefore, this leads to an increase in the cost of goods.”
The tightening also affected individuals with a Russian passport, Vedomosti sources clarified. If until now they were opened accounts and issued bank cards, like other clients, without special requirements, now new applicants have a condition to maintain high deposit balances.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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