VTB presented a prototype of cross-border B2B transfers in digital rubles

VTB (MOEX: VTBR) presented a prototype of cross-border transfers in digital rubles between Russian and Belarusian companies. The presentation took place as part of the Finopolis-2023 forum.

“At the end of last year, our working groups in Russia and Belarus joined forces to develop a scheme for connecting residents of friendly states to the digital ruble platform. We are opening up new opportunities for cross-border payments and are on the verge of creating an international decentralized settlement system in national digital currencies,” said Vadim Kulik, Deputy Chairman of the Board of VTB. According to him, other countries are now testing technologies for payments in national digital currencies.

Vitaly Sergeychuk, head of VTB’s corporate and investment business unit, noted that the digital ruble will provide a closed system of settlements between Russian companies and external counterparties. According to him, in the future, bank clients will have the opportunity to make cross-border payments using smart contracts, which will make settlements more transparent.

After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the European Union disconnected over ten largest Russian banks from the international SWIFT system. The international payment systems Visa and Mastercard also left Russia. Russian banks instead of SWIFT started connect to the Chinese bank transfer system CIPS. As of July, 23 Russian banks are officially known to be connected to CIPS.

Read more about the system of cross-border transfers in the new international situation in the Kommersant article. “Where does the money go”.

Milena Kostereva