Reuters, citing sources, reports that Russian companies are facing delays in payments for oil from China, Turkey and the UAE as their banks increasingly fear US sanctions.
Many banks have begun asking their clients to provide written assurances that no person or entity on the US sanctions list is involved in the transaction or is the beneficiary of the payment.
According to sources, two banks in the UAE - First Abu Dhabi Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank - have blocked several accounts related to trading in Russian goods. The UAE's Mashreq Bank, Turkey's Ziraat and VakifBank, and China's ICBC and Bank of China are still processing payments, but they are taking weeks or months to process.
Delays in payments reduce Russia’s income from the sale of energy resources and make them unstable, notes Reuters.
Peskov acknowledged that problems with payments exist, but said that they would not create obstacles to trade with China.
In addition, as the Turkish publication Dünya writes, Turkish exporters are still unable to receive money transfers from Russia, local banks are rejecting payments, and the authorities are considering the situation as a “force majeure circumstance.” According to the publication, trade between the two countries may stall.
