The international payment system SWIFT has confirmed to the Central Bank that its work in Russia will take place as usual.

Olga Skorobogatova, the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, spoke about this.

“We always have direct contact with SWIFT and directly with the headquarters and the Moscow office.

We were confirmed that SWIFT will work normally, without any problems, and we do not see any risks at the moment, ”TASS quoted her as saying.

During a meeting of the working group of the State Duma Committee on the financial market, she clarified that even if the Russian Federation is disconnected from SWIFT, interbank transfers can be transferred to the Russian system.

“We have SPFS (financial messaging system -

RT) 

, it works, and all domestic Russian traffic, even if something happens, can be safely transferred to our system,” RIA Novosti quotes Skorobogatova.

At the end of April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke about Moscow having a base for creating an analogue of SWIFT.

“And I am convinced that both the government and the Central Bank must do everything to ensure that this base is reliable and guarantees us complete independence and a guarantee against damage that someone may try to additionally inflict on us,” the head of the foreign policy department noted.

Prior to that, in an interview with Chinese media, Lavrov said about the need to move away from the use of Western-controlled international payment systems and strengthen its independence, thus reducing sanctions risks.

He also called for a transition to settlements in national currencies and in world currencies, alternative to the dollar.

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, also commenting on the possibility of disconnecting from SWIFT, stressed that Russia, against the background of the "sanctions aspirations" of opponents, in particular the United States, cannot exclude any of the potential threats.

"These actions are unreasonable and unpredictable, therefore, of course, this situation obliges us to be on the alert," said a Kremlin spokesman.

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  • © Chris Helgren

We will remind, on April 29, the European Parliament approved a resolution, which contains recommendations to the EU institutions on building relations with Russia.

The document, among other things, contains requirements to stop the import of oil and gas from the Russian Federation and to disconnect it from the SWIFT payment system in the event of "Russia's invasion of Ukraine."

The Federation Council called the document legally illiterate.

In turn, the State Duma drew attention to the inconsistency of the theses used in drawing up the resolution, and added that the measures proposed in it would primarily hit the interests of Europeans.

Meanwhile, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, in an interview with Gabriel Gavin on RT, explained that the scenario of disconnecting the country from the international payment system is still only hypothetical.

Nevertheless, Moscow is considering options to minimize risks and damage.

As an example of alternative instruments, Zakharova cited the Financial Messaging System of the Bank of Russia.

"At present, options are being discussed for pairing it with foreign counterparts - European SEPA, Iranian SEPAM, Chinese CUP and CIPS," said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. 

In addition, she spoke about the development of cooperation between the Russian MIR system and foreign counterparts, in particular, the Chinese Union Pay, the Japanese JCB and the international Maestro.

“Such co-branded cards work both in Russia and abroad.

In particular, various operations on them are already available in Armenia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, ”Zakharova noted.

In August 2020, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that several years ago the US had already discussed the idea of ​​“cutting off Russia” from SWIFT.

He stressed that Moscow should be "maximally prepared" for such decisions by the United States.

Meanwhile, they called for disconnecting Moscow from the international financial system in Europe back in 2014.

Alexander Pankin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, also spoke about the need to develop its own analogues of SWIFT in Russia. He noted that the promotion of interbank payment systems independent of the United States is an important area of ​​work, and also drew attention to the "rapid development" of digital currencies and blockchain, stressing that such projects can become the basis for international settlements on a new technological basis.