Russia’s Rosselkhozbank seeks to re-establish ties with foreign banks in order to process grain payments, the news outlet reports
Russia has asked the EU and other Western nations to lift sanctions on state lender Rosselkhozbank, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing sources.
According to the news agency, such a move would allow the bank to restore relations with its correspondent banks abroad and process payments for Russian grain and fertilizer exports.
Prior to the introduction of anti-Russia sanctions, such payments were serviced by international banks and subsidiaries of Russian banks in Switzerland, the report says.
According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Rosselkhozbank is currently “servicing the lion’s share” of Russia’s fertilizer and food related transactions.
The report did not mention whether Russia has received a response to its appeal.
According to Reuters, the request was made during talks on the fate of the Ukrainian grain deal, which expires later this month. As part of the agreement, reached in July, Western countries were supposed to ease restrictions on Russian agricultural exports.
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