Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov admitted on Friday that “it is quite complicated” to transfer trade with other countries to ruble payments, while stating that “it is too early” to talk about deadlines and products subject to this change.
Peskov recalled that the president, Vladimir Putin, ordered “to work methodically and step by step to expand the range of the use of Russian national currencies”.
“Now it is incorrect to give exact dates for which groups of goods, when it is possible to switch to the use of national currencies, this work is quite complicated, but the conceptual framework of the president is quite obvious,” he said, as collected by the Russian news agency Interfax.
At the end of March, Putin signed a decree stipulating the payment of gas in rubles, but the measure targets “hostile” countries, which have passed sanctions against Moscow in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.
Trade with China
In another order, the Russian Railways business group RZD and its Chinese counterpart China State Railways agreed to gradually increase freight traffic through so-called transshipment points between the two countries, as reported today by the Russian company.
“After talks with China Railways, we agreed to gradually increase the delivery of trains through transshipment points,” said the Russian railway giant, quoted by Interfax.
These points are necessary in the transit of trains between countries such as Russia and China because the locomotives have various feeding systems, so loads must be transferred to terminals specially designed for this purpose.
According to RZD, freight traffic through the Zabaykalsk point, located on the Russian-Chinese border opposite Manshuoli province, grew by 27% in April compared to the previous month, while in Grodekovo, bordering Heilongjiang province, it increased by 10%.
“There is also an increase in the transport of export cargo to China through Kazakhstan and Mongolia,” added the business group.
RZD noted that coal transport is added to that of other freight, which has meant an increase in cargo requests of almost 30% compared to 2021.
In the first quarter of 2022, more than 3,500 heavy-duty trains and 1,700 mixed trains passed through the Eastern Polygon (including the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways), carrying more than 6.5 million tons.
(With information from Europa Press and EFE)
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