© Grigory Dukor / ReutersRussian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina
"There are risks in using the global financial networks, the global financial system, of which Russia is a part," the Central Bank of Russia's governor, Elvira Nabiullina, said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
"Therefore, since back in 2014, we have been developing our own systems, including a payments system. Inside Russia we have created a system for transferring financial data, which is similar to SWIFT."
Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), is the financial network that provides high-value cross-border transfers for its members across the world. The Belgium-based cooperative supports most interbank messages, connecting over 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories.
The probable cut off from SWIFT entered Russia's political agenda as early as in 2014. Back then, Washington and Brussels imposed the first round of anti-Russian sanctions over the country's alleged involvement in the Ukraine crisis and the reunification with Crimea.
Though SWIFT itself fended off the talks about the exclusion of Russia from the network, several state corporations, including Rosneft and Rostec, have pledged to use the country's analogue of the global interbank cash transfer service.
SWIFT has a precedent of disconnecting a sanctioned state from the network. In 2012, SWIFT cut off Iran amid international penalties against the country, leaving Tehran no chance to access billions of dollars in revenue.
"This system is already operational and it allows, inside Russia, to transfer financial data," Nabiullina said. The governor called the domestically developed network an "absolutely similar, competing system" that allows Russia to nullify risks at least inside the country.
Comment: It seems many countries and institutions are beginning to see the economic perils of allying itself with the ailing US empire and we are seeing shifts in their opposition to its suicidal agenda. While Russia has remained open and resilient in the face of the relentless attacks from the Western establishment, it has also been readying itself for any and all eventualities:
- France: anti-Russian sanctions 'contrary to our vision of multilateral organisation', sees 'relations rebalancing'
- Russia & France discuss nuclear energy partnership in third-party countries, in defiance of the belligerent US
- SWIFT is neutral and will defy US if pressured to cut Russia off says CEO
- Cutting out the middleman: Japanese banks replacing SWIFT with China's CIPS payment system for inter-bank settlements
- US tries more sanctions: Russia can survive without using the SWIFT banking payment system but can the EU?
- US sanctions with benefits: China ready to take Total's share of Iran's oil company
Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Atlantic Trade War? How Trump Breaking Iran Deal Could Dismantle US Empire