Shafaqna English– A senior Russian banking official revealed on Wednesday that Russia and India have successfully established a fully functional payments mechanism based on their national currencies—the rouble and the rupee. This infrastructure now facilitates the vast majority of their commercial exchanges, accounting for 96% of all bilateral trade transactions.
The system was developed as a direct response to Western financial sanctions that restricted Russia’s access to the global dollar-based payment networks, and it has proven resilient enough to handle the growing volume of trade between the two nations. India, notably, ranks as Russia’s second-largest crude oil buyer, underscoring the strategic importance of this payment channel.
Bilateral trade between Russia and India reached a historic peak of $70 billion in 2024, having tripled since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, driven largely by India’s soaring demand for Russian oil offered at steep discounts. The imposition of stricter enforcement measures and expanded sanctions in 2025 led to a temporary dip in trade volumes, as payment channels and shipping logistics faced new hurdles.
Nevertheless, the first six months of 2026 witnessed a robust rebound, indicating that the underlying economic complementarity between the two countries—Russia’s abundant energy resources and India’s growing consumption needs—has proven resilient to geopolitical headwinds.
Source: Reuters