Moscow has expressed concerns over a lack of "progress" and has proposed radical new initiatives to deepen financial cooperation, according to media, more than two months after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted the opening of nine "Vostro" accounts in two Indian banks to facilitate rupee trade with sanctions-hit Russia.
Most significantly, it has proposed the setting up of an “India-based financial institution with Russian ownership” that would not be subject to third-party sanctions.
And a specialised financial technology business established in India that would allow Indian credit institutions to use SPFS, the Russian financial messaging system that took the place of the banned SWIFT. SPFS was developed by the Bank of Russia.
Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar of the RBI and First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Vladimir Chistyukhin discussed these recommendations in a message last month.
Chistyukhin’s note also mentioned that Russia’s MTS Bank, which was not subject to third-party sanctions, was “willing to discuss its possible involvement” in such a project.
A meeting between the representatives of the RBI, the Bank of Russia, and MTS Bank has been asked in order to examine legal and regulatory matters.