RSPP urged companies from the EAEU to occupy the niches of the departed Western business

Companies from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) need to occupy the niches in the Russian market that have been vacated after the departure of Western business, says Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP). He stressed that this is not a call to circumvent sanctions.

“We do not urge to bypass sanctions, but to use those niches that arise in connection with the withdrawal of Western partners from Russia. Of course, not only Russian companies can occupy these niches, but also companies from EAEU member countries,” he said at the RSPP Integration Forum (quoted by Reuters).

According to the RSPP, the volume of mutual trade in goods of the EAEU in 2022 set a historical record, increasing by 10.3%, to $80.6 billion. Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan increased their exports to the EAEU by 1.4 times year on year, for $9.8 billion, of which to Russia — for $9.5 billion.

Mr. Shokhin specified that the European Union and the United States are already “beginning to closely monitor why these figures have increased so much.” “We understand that in 2023 supervisory and regulatory authorities will be quite tough to ensure that there is no circumvention of sanctions, but we believe that it is one thing to control sub-sanctioned dual-use goods and another thing to produce and invest in civilian areas, and here we are we do not call for circumventing sanctions,” the head of the RSPP noted.

In August 2022, the prime ministers of the EAEU countries at the summit in Kyrgyzstan agreed recommendations for expanding settlements in national currencies. According to Kommersant, priority is given to the creation of an independent payment infrastructure of the EAEU – through the interaction of national payment card systems, the creation of a network of correspondent accounts in national currencies and the exchange of financial information without the use of the SWIFT system. On March 12 last year, it ceased to provide services to Russian banks that fell under EU sanctions imposed in response to the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

Laura Keffer