As of: March 27, 2024, 4:47 a.m
By: Bona Hyun
Comments
Press
Split
Due to concerns about Western sanctions, Russia's important business partners are fleeing.
Apparently Putin can't do anything but watch.
Moscow – Russia is putting out all feelers to save the economy from collapse.
Because of Western sanctions, more and more trading partners want to withdraw from business.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is now even more dependent on the help of long-standing allies like China.
But Chinese President Xi Jinping can no longer withstand Western pressure.
Putin increasingly isolated - China is turning further and further away from Russia's economy
When several Chinese central banks stopped payment transactions with Russia, Putin probably had no idea that a chain reaction would follow.
Putin was hit hardest by the withdrawal of China's largest People's Bank from the deal with Moscow.
This is the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), which according to
Wirtschaftswoche
is considered the largest bank in China (as of December 2023).
Putin's circle of business partners and allies is shrinking due to sanctions against Russia's economy.
© Mikhail Metzel/dpa
Now other banks and credit institutions are following suit: Ping An Bank and the Bank of Ningbo have stopped accepting yuan (Chinese currency) payments from Russia, business and payment market representatives told the Russian daily
Izvestia
.
Accordingly, other Chinese banks have subsequently restricted payment transactions - including DBS Bank, Great Wall West China Bank, China Zheshang Bank and a number of organizations with international capital participation.
Setback for Russia's economy - Putin's donors are backing down because of sanctions
Some time ago, Russia sought talks with Chinese representatives to continue business in the financial sector - but so far without success.
“Negotiations with the Chinese partners have been going on for a long time.
There is no decision yet,” Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told
RIA Novosti
news agency on February 26.
According to Siluanow, no agreement has yet been reached on taking out loans in the Chinese currency Yuan.
Nevertheless, Russia is optimistic.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the situation with Chinese banks has led to problems, but these can be overcome.
Peskov puts the responsibility on the West.
“Of course, the unprecedented pressure from the United States and the European Union on the People's Republic of China continues, including in the context of relations with us,” Peskov said in a recent conference call with reporters, according to
Reuters
.
“This, of course, creates certain problems, but cannot become an obstacle to the further development of our trade and economic relations (with China).”
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Sanctions against Russia's economy are forcing banks to turn away from Putin
Peskov is apparently referring to the tightened sanctions imposed by the US to take tougher action against foreign banks that support Putin.
In the event of sanctions, these institutions could lose access to US correspondent banks, reports
Business Insider
.
It is not just Chinese banks that are feeling the pressure from the West in the wake of sanctions.
As the
Wall Street Journal
(WSJ) reports, financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Austria are withdrawing from Russian business due to fears of sanctions.
Recently there were reports that the USA wants to exert massive pressure on the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI).
According to a Reuters report, the US wants to prevent the RBI from making a delicate billion-dollar deal involving Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
Senior U.S. Treasury officials urged the Austrian bank to back away from its plans, several people familiar with the situation told the news agency.
(bohy with agencies)