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Budget carrier <keyword id="6358032" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="spicejet" source="Orion">SpiceJet</keyword> will operate a special flight to Budapest, Hungary to evacuate stranded Indians. The airline will operate a special evacuation flight to bring back stranded Indians, who managed to find their way out of the hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. Hungary shares a land border with Ukraine, many Indian nationals, including students have made their way to the border. The airline will use its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for this special flight. "The aircraft will fly to Budapest from Delhi and the return fight will operate via Kutaisi, Georgia," the airline said in a statement. "SpiceJet is planning to operate more evacuation flights and is in discussion with concerned authorities." Till now, Tata Group-led Air India has been operating flights to Bucharest, Romania and Budapest, Hungary. These flights being are operated as special government charters to bring back stranded Indians. Earlier, Air India operated direct special flights to Kiev but it had to stop these operations due to a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) issued over the closure of Ukrainian air space. One of Air India's flight bound for Kiev from New Delhi returned to the national capital's IGI Airport after NOTAM was announced at Kiev airport on last Thursday. Last Tuesday, the airline had carried out the first of its special flight operations ferrying Indian citizens from Ukraine. SEE ALSO <a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/as-long-as-mukesh-ambani-is-there-to-rescue-the-market-doesnt-care-about-future-retails-financial-stress/articleshow/89886569.cms">As long as Mukesh Ambani is there to rescue, the market doesn't care about Future Retail's financial stress</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/indian-startups-like-dunzo-swiggy-dealshare-raised-8-billion-in-january-and-february-2022/articleshow/89890583.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Indian startups raised around $1 billion a week in January and February</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/sensex-falls-sharply-on-worsening-russia-ukraine-war-hdfc-bank-axis-bank-eicher-motors-among-biggest-losers/articleshow/89886018.cms">Markets remain worried as energy rich Russia faces harsh sanctions from western countries</a>

SpiceJet to operate special flight to Budapest to rescue Indians amidst Russia-Ukraine conflict

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Over a month's worth of Russian crude-oil production is stranded near South Korea.</li><li>Currency disagreements with importers have left 14 cargo tankers idling.</li></ul>Tankers carrying over a month's worth of Russian oil production have been stuck in a weeks-long limbo, as US sanctions and payment disagreements keep buyers at bay. Vessels loaded with 10 million barrels of the Russian Sokol crude have been idling around the South Korean port of Yosu, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/russia-struggles-sell-pacific-oil-14-tankers-stuck-sources-data-2024-01-26/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a> reported. To save on freight costs, three supertankers have become a floating storage, accepting product from smaller vessels ship-to-ship.In total, 14 ships have sat stranded as importers of Russian crude are unable to settle on a currency with which to pay for the oil. Payment disagreements between India and Russia have spanned for months now: After Russia had issues repatriating its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dedollarization-russia-dollar-yuan-billions-india-struggle-use-ruble-2023-6">massive stockpile of Indian rupees</a>, it has insisted on using the Chinese yuan, something New Delhi seeks to avoid. The lack of common ground has started impacting the trade between the two major oil partners, as India has recently <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/india-mideast-russian-crude-exports-discounts-sanctions-price-cap-puri-2024-1">turned to the Middle East</a> to source its crude imports. And despite millions of Russian barrels ready to offload, there's no indication that could happen soon. An Indian Oil Corp source told Reuters that the firm doesn't anticipate receiving any Sokol grade oil in the near term. That's also as the US has started to clamp down harder on restrictions that aim to curb Moscow's energy trade. Since October, the US Treasury has sanctioned <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russian-economy-oil-markets-india-tankers-sanctions-crude-prices-sokol-2023-12?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">eight cargo ships</a> that carried crude above the $60 price cap, a measure imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. In mid-January, India's Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri acknowledged that Western sanctions were a factor in pursuing alternative trade: "In the Russian case, it is a question of price cap and it is also a question of some of their shipping entities coming under adverse notice of others."Russia is highly dependent on its energy trade. While <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/oil-market-supply-russia-opec-saudi-arabia-us-production-commodities-2023-12">flows have remained high</a>, Moscow's tax revenue from oil and gas still <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russian-energy-revenue-crude-oil-prices-gas-exports-sanctions-ukraine-2024-1">dropped 24% in 2023</a>.

10 million barrels of Russian oil are stuck with nowhere to go

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Indians are being duped into joining the Russian military through false employment promises.</li><li>One person said his brother had been promised a job in Dubai but ended up on the front lines in Ukraine.</li></ul>Some Indian nationals are being tricked into fighting for the Russian army after having been promised <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2024/02/29/des-indiens-recrutes-a-leur-insu-dans-l-armee-russe_6219341_3210.html">jobs in Dubai</a>, Le Monde reported.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/02/india-ukraine-war-uae-job-dubai-fight/#:~:text=At%20least%2020%20Indian%20citizens,forced%20to%20join%20the%20army.">About 20 Indians</a> are thought to have fallen victim to similar schemes and are now caught on the front lines in Russia.One victim, Aazad Yousuf Kumar, 31, a science graduate, traveled from his home in northern India to Dubai in the hopes of working for an employment consultancy named Baba Vlogs, which is run by a man named Faisal Khan.Kumar's mother told The Telegraph that after he arrived in the United Arab Emirates, he was told there were no jobs available and that he would have to go to Russia to do kitchen work.But she said he was then brought to a military base where he was given weapons training."We lost touch with him for a while. When he finally phoned after about twenty days, he told us that he had been tricked and taken to an unknown place in Russia, where he had received weapons training for a fortnight, along with a dozen other Indians," his brother, Sajad Ahmad Kumar, told Le Monde."He was deployed near the front line with the Russian army. I spoke to him on December 26th. He cried constantly. He told me he wanted to come home," he added.Another victim told Indian news outlet <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indians-hired-as-russian-army-security-helpers-forced-to-fight-on-ukraine-border/article67868196.ece">The Hindu</a> that at least three Indians had been forced to fight for Russian forces after having been sent there as "army security helpers."He said he had also found the job through Faisal Khan and that they had been "categorically told" that they would not be sent to the battlefield.But after receiving basic weapons training, he said they were sent to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/images-wagner-troops-descend-rostov-don-apparent-armed-rebellion-2023-6">Rostov-on-Don</a> and then on to Donetsk, where they then were forced to join the fighting.The man, who said that he had not received any of the money he had been promised for the job, told the outlet that he had been able to escape the conflict area and had been admitted to a hospital for frostbite.He added that he was now struggling to get help from the Indian Embassy in Moscow, saying he had been "turned away several times."A spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs told The Telegraph that the government was working to secure the release of those stuck in Russia."We are trying our best and we are in touch, regular touch with Russian authorities both here in New Delhi and also in Moscow and we are trying to do our best," he said.

An Indian science graduate was promised a job in Dubai but was tricked into fighting for Russia, reports say

<ul><li><keyword id="6373925" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="UEFA" source="Orion">UEFA</keyword> decided to move the final championship league venue from Saint Petersburg to Paris in the wake of the <keyword id="13034223" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Russian-Ukraine-conflict" source="Orion">Russian-Ukraine conflict</keyword>.</li><li>It further said in a tweet that the match will be played as initially scheduled on Saturday 28 May at 21:00 CET.</li><li>The UEFA Executive Committee also decided that Russian and Ukrainian clubs and national teams competing in UEFA competitions will be required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.</li></ul>The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has announced its decision to move the Champions League final, which was supposed to be held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to Paris in the wake of the Russian-Ukraine conflict. The decision was taken in an extraordinary meeting conducted by the UEFA Executive Committee following the grave escalation of the security situation in Europe. The UEFA further mentioned in its tweet that the match will be played as initially scheduled on Saturday 28 May at 21:00 CET. <div type="twitter" handle="ChampionsLeague" handlename="UEFA Champions League" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1417052605776375813/Jc9RL5o7_normal.jpg" favoritecount="3706" retweetcount="928" status="The 2021/22 #UCLfinal will move from Saint Petersburg to Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The game will be played… https://t.co/cxm20xbNeP" createdat="1645783257000" id="1497149609633894402"></div> “UEFA wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to French Republic President Emmanuel Macron for his personal support and commitment to have European club football’s most prestigious game moved to France at a time of unparalleled crisis. Together with the French government, UEFA will fully support multi-stakeholder efforts to ensure the provision of rescue for football players and their families in <keyword id="6355101" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword> who face dire human suffering, destruction and displacement,” said the UEFA in an official statement. It further said, “At today’s meeting, the UEFA Executive Committee also decided that Russian and Ukrainian clubs and national teams competing in UEFA competitions will be required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.” Russia was supposed to host the UEFA Championship League 2021 final, but due to COVID-19 travel restrictions it was moved to Porto, Portugal. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/emergency-contact-details-for-indian-stuck-in-ukraine/articleshow/89826053.cms">If you are an Indian stuck in Ukraine, here are some sources from where you can seek help</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/here-is-the-list-of-top-10-gainers-after-a-historical-market-crash/articleshow/89826018.cms">NBCC, RBL Bank, Ashoka Buildcon among top 10 gainers after a historical market crash</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/top-10-most-powerful-countries-in-the-world-checkout-indias-rank/slidelist/89821782.cms">Top 10 most powerful countries in the world — Checkout India’s rank</a>

UEFA Champions League final to be held in Paris instead of Saint Petersburg in Russia

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russia's foreign financial assets rose $44.6 billion in the first seven months of 2024.</li><li>Western sanctions and complex international settlements are delaying Russia's foreign payments.</li></ul>Russia's economy and trade have appeared resilient despite sweeping Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.However, it looks like Russia hasn't been able to repatriate a lot of money back home. Foreign financial assets — including accounts receivables — increased nearly $45 billion in the first seven months of this year., according to a Tuesday report from the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cbr.ru/statistics/macro_itm/svs/bop-eval/">Central Bank of Russia.</a>The data only shows the increase in assets stuck overseas, not the total amount.Russia's foreign financial assets rose $44.6 billion from January to July — more than double the increase of $21.4 billion over the same period a year ago, according to the central bank's report.It didn't provide a breakdown of the assets but said the increase was due to longer lag times and "increasing complexity" required for foreign settlements. There was also an increase in unspecified other investments.This money being stuck overseas has a knock-on impact on the liquidity of firms, said Alex Isakov, a Russia economist at <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-14/russian-businesses-see-billions-stuck-abroad-on-payment-delays">Bloomberg Economics.</a>It's not the first time Russia — a commodity giant — is having issues with trade proceeds stuck overseas.Last year, Russia acknowledged there were <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/russia-india-ruble-rupee-sanctions-trade-imbalance-yuan-weapons-deficit-2023-5">problems with billions of Indian rupees</a> it had made from exports to India. The amount has fallen since as Russian firms have managed to use the money to pay Indian exporters, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/india-russia-central-banks-renew-talks-mechanism-expand-local-currency-trade-2024-08-14/">Reuters</a> reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed Indian government source.<h2 id="c326c124-43f0-4edd-9eb4-1ef593d58f1c">Spooked by US secondary sanctions, even China banks don't want to deal with Russia</h2>Even though Russia's economy has chugged along in the 29 months since it invaded Ukraine, it's mostly been driven by wartime state spending on military activities and subsidies.Recently, <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-economy-overheating-consumer-spending-tourism-central-bank-interest-rate-2024-7">Russia's central bank</a> flagged "considerable" overheating in the country's economy.However, pressure from Western sanctions is mounting quickly, as international banks hold back from processing transactions with Russia due to fears of US secondary sanctions that were approved in December.Now, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-all-china-banks-refuse-yuan-ruble-transfers-sanctions-2024-8">nearly all Chinese banks</a> — even small regional ones — are refusing to accept direct Chinese payment transfers from Russia, the pro-Kremlin media outlet <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://iz.ru/1740489/mariia-kolobova/bag-po-raschetu-regionalnye-banki-kitaia-prekrashchaiut-prinimat-platezhi-iz-rf">Izvestia</a> reported on Monday.Other than the issues with Chinese banks, Russian firms are also facing a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/russia-banks-china-yuan-liquidity-payment-problems-us-sanctions-ukraine-2024-8">shortage of Chinese yuan</a> that the country is now relying on for trade.<h2 id="530d89dd-1c32-4f87-bf00-2212b137b077">Russia plays down economic and financial risks</h2>Moscow is playing down the impact of Western sanctions.On Wednesday, Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov said his country has a strong "shield" against external pressure, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://tass.com/economy/1829045">TASS state news agency</a> reported."We created the strong, sustainable financial base; we created financial infrastructure," said Siluanov.Russia is now rushing to set up <a target="_blank" rel="" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-moscow-cryptocurrency-bill-digital-ruble-trade-payments-sanctions-2024-7">alternative payment systems</a>, including crypto, to facilitate trade.<a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/first-russia-china-barter-trade-may-come-this-autumn-sources-say-2024-08-08/">Reuters</a> reported last Thursday that Russia and China were even planning to revive the age-old practice of barter trade to get around Western sanctions.

Russia's economy is still raking it in, but many billions of dollars are stranded overseas 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Payment issues have delayed shipments of Russian Sokol crude oil to Indian Oil Corp.</li><li>India prefers rupee payments, but Russia is unwilling to use the currency. </li></ul>Moscow has been on a drive to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dedollarization-russia-putin-trade-local-national-currencies-yuan-ruble-sco-2023-7">replace the use of the US dollar</a> in international trade, but there are barrels of Russian oil stuck at sea due to issues with paying in alternative currencies.Shipments of Russian Sokol grade crude oil to state-owned Indian Oil Corp, or IOC, have been delayed by payment issues, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/payment-woes-delay-supply-russian-sokol-oil-india-sources-2023-12-26/">Reuters</a> reported on Tuesday, citing two sources familiar with the matter. The seller is the state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft.The problem arose because the Rosneft unit selling the oil hasn't been able to open a bank account in the United Arab Emirates to receive payments in the UAE dirham, per Reuters.This delayed six cargoes of Sokol oil the IOC was supposed to receive from late November to December, Reuters reported, citing shipping data. So the cargoes have mostly been lingering at sea around India and Sri Lanka.IOC and Rosneft did immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider and Reuters.It isn't immediately clear how much Sokol oil is stuck at sea due to the payment issue.Earlier this month, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-20/russia-s-sokol-oil-gets-stuck-on-tankers-while-en-route-to-india?srnd=markets-vp">Bloomberg</a> reported <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russian-economy-oil-markets-india-tankers-sanctions-crude-prices-sokol-2023-12">about five million barrels</a> of Sokol oil that were being shipped from Russia to India never arrived.The problems with paying for Sokol oil highlight issues of dealing with Russia amid sweeping sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.India has emerged as a major buyer of Russian oil following swathes of Western sanctions against Moscow. This means that dollar trade with Russia is restricted — and this is important since the greenback is the international trade currency of choice.To be able to buy Russian oil, India insisted on settling trades in the rupee earlier this year. That's because using US dollars could expose it to secondary sanctions, and it worries about acquiring rubles at a fair rate on the open market.However, Indian authorities have controls on the rupee, and the currency is not fully convertible — which means it can't easily be changed into another currency.This poses issues for Russia, which was stuck with billions of <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/russia-india-ruble-rupee-sanctions-trade-imbalance-yuan-weapons-deficit-2023-5">rupees in Indian banks</a> earlier this year. India encourages the rupees to be spent in India itself. The <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dedollarization-russia-dollar-yuan-billions-india-struggle-use-ruble-2023-6">problem for Russia</a> is that there's not much it wants to buy from India.To get around its rupee conundrum and reduce its currency risks, Russian officials and oil executives have instead been pushing Indian buyers to pay them in Chinese yuan. It's also subject to controls and is not fully convertible, but Russia imports a lot more from China.Yet the <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/india-russia-oil-imports-china-yuan-dirham-currency-rupee-crude-2023-10">Indian government</a> is increasingly uncomfortable with yuan trade since there are currency conversion charges involved and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dedollarization-china-india-brics-common-currency-jim-oneill-economy-dollar-2023-9">geopolitical rivalry</a> between Delhi and Beijing.Another currency Russia could use to trade with India is the UAE dirham — but the UAE is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-23/uae-tightens-scrutiny-on-russian-firms-amid-pressure-from-us">increasing its oversight</a> of Russian companies.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-economy-top-central-banker-nabiullina-more-sanctions-ukraine-war-2023-12">Russia's central bank governor</a> Elvira Nabiullina acknowledged challenges with <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-russia-alternative-swift-payment-cips-spfs-yuan-ruble-dollar-2022-4">cross-border payments</a> in a recent interview with local media, but added the country's economy has been restructuring rapidly to deal with international sanctions.

Russia wants to topple dollar dominance, but it isn't even able to deliver oil to India with alternative currencies

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Nearly half of tankers sanctioned by the US have failed to load new cargo, Bloomberg reported.</li><li>The West has stepped up efforts to enforce its trade restrictions on Russia, sanctioning 50 vessels.</li></ul>Efforts to clamp down on vessels breaching Western restrictions on Russia are showing results, with nearly half of sanctioned oil tankers now idle, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-13/tankers-tied-to-the-russian-oil-trade-grind-to-a-halt-following-us-sanctions?srnd=markets-vp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a> reported.Of the 50 tankers targeted by the US Treasury since October, 21 have failed to load on new cargo. These ships fell into Western crosshairs for trading Moscow's crude above the $60 price cap, a Group of Seven measure implemented to limit Russian energy revenue. Such restrictions took form in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022; additional curbs include caps on refined products.But the system has faltered since its introduction, as some companies continue ferrying Russian crude above the set price limit. It's partially done through the Kremlin's "<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russia-shadow-fleet-oil-tankers-sanctions-ukraine-enforcement-price-cap2024-2">shadow fleet</a>," a collective of vessels with hard-to-track owners that circumvent the use of Western insurance and tankers.To counteract this, the Treasury sanctioned eight individual vessels between last October and December. Before 2023's end, another 24 tankers were added to the list, as the department focused on a shipping company owned by the Russian state-controlled Sovcomflot, Bloomberg said.The United Arab Emirates-based Hennesea Holdings, owner of 18 ships, was sanctioned in January. And most recently, the Sovcomflot tanker NS Leader was named on Thursday, causing the carrier to reverse course near Portugal and head back toward Russia.It's a crackdown that's weighing on crude prices, as Russia's Urals crude is sinking toward deeper discounts against Dated Brent. Meanwhile, for tankers still trading, US sanctions have compelled some markets to rethink the imports. In late January, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russian-oil-million-barrels-sanctions-india-trade-payment-currency-issues-2024-1">10 million barrels of Sokol crude were stuck awaiting</a> delivery to Indian ports, a traditional trade partner. Hardeep Singh Puri, the country's Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, recently acknowledged that Russia would need to conform to Western sanctions for <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/india-mideast-russian-crude-exports-discounts-sanctions-price-cap-puri-2024-1?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">trade to happen</a>. But the US and its allies have yet to dispel Russia's shadow fleet. Recently, a UK sanctions official noted the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russia-shadow-fleet-oil-tankers-sanctions-ukraine-enforcement-price-cap2024-2">G7 is making efforts to compel the international community</a> to enforce the price cap, and effectively bring the mystery tankers back into Western fleets.

Half of Russia's sanctioned oil tankers are now standing idle

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Heavily sanctioned Russia is facing challenges from its dedollarization drive.</li><li>It now trades less than 10% of its oil using the greenback and the euro.</li></ul>Heavily sanctioned <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dedollarization-brics-summit-russia-putin-dollar-local-currency-trade-sanctions-2023-8">Russia</a> is one of the loudest critics of the US dollar-denominated global financial order actively trading in alternative currencies.But even Russia, which has been actively <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dedollarization-russia-ukraine-war-energy-oil-trades-sanctions-2023-5">skirting sanctions</a> and using local currencies for trade to prop up its economy, hasn't found a really viable alternative currency for trade – highlighting the problems and risks of countries looking to abandon the greenback.Russia's oil trade best exemplifies the problems it has with alternative currency trade, as it accounts for about <a target="_blank" href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/the-price-cap-on-russian-oil-a-progress-report">a quarter</a> of Russia's budget.Before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, most Russian oil went to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.iea.org/reports/russian-supplies-to-global-energy-markets/oil-market-and-russian-supply-2">Europe.</a> Now, <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/china-india-russian-oil-crude-moscow-war-ukraine-volumes-kpler-2023-4">India and China</a> have become the biggest buyers following sanctions imposed after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.The international oil trade is typically denominated in the dollar, but due to sanctions, less than 10% of Russia's daily oil trade is sold in the dollar and the euro, five traders told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/currency-clashes-sour-russias-oil-trade-with-asia-2023-11-27/">Reuters</a> on Monday.<h2>Risks and complications of alternative currencies</h2>Russia's oil trade with India is particularly problematic.To be able to buy Russian oil, India insisted on settling trades in the rupee earlier this year. That's because using US dollars could expose it to secondary sanctions, and it worries about acquiring rubles at a fair rate on the open market.However, Indian authorities have controls on the rupee and the currency is not fully convertible — which means it can't be easily changed into another currency.This poses a problem for Russia, which found itself stuck with lots of <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/russia-india-ruble-rupee-sanctions-trade-imbalance-yuan-weapons-deficit-2023-5">rubles in Indian banks</a> earlier this year.India actually encourages the rupees to be spent in India itself. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dedollarization-russia-dollar-yuan-billions-india-struggle-use-ruble-2023-6">problem for Russia</a> is that there's not much it wants to buy from India.The currency issue is not just a problem with India — sources tell Reuters that it's affecting other top buyers in Africa, China, and Turkey too.To get around its rupee conundrum and reduce its currency risks, Russian officials and oil executives have instead been pushing Indian buyers to pay them in Chinese yuan. It's also subject to controls and is not fully convertible, but Russia imports a lot more from China, including cars, machinery and other goods.Yet the <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/india-russia-oil-imports-china-yuan-dirham-currency-rupee-crude-2023-10">Indian government</a> is increasingly uncomfortable with yuan trade, since there are currency conversion charges involved and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dedollarization-china-india-brics-common-currency-jim-oneill-economy-dollar-2023-9">geopolitical rivalry</a> between Delhi and Beijing.Another currency Russia could use to trade with India is the United Arab Emirates dirham — but the UAE is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-23/uae-tightens-scrutiny-on-russian-firms-amid-pressure-from-us">increasing its oversight</a> of Russian companies.Despite all the risks and complications that come with trading in alternatives to the US dollar, the Kremlin is not backing off its stance to move away from dollar trades."Despite all the problems with the rupee, we nevertheless prefer trading in rupees and rubles and not in dollars. This already speaks to the fact that we have excluded the option of dollarization in our bilateral trade," said Sergey Ivanov, a senior Russian official told a forum on Monday, per the state news agency <a target="_blank" href="https://tass.com/economy/1712447">TASS</a>.

Russia's oil deals with India should terrify countries trying to abandon the dollar

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russia's amassing $1 billion worth of Indian rupees each month that it's struggling to use.</li><li>India has been buying Russian oil using rupees as Moscow has been shut out of the USD-denominated global payments system.</li></ul><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/russia-oil-exports-economy-record-highs-production-output-cuts-crude-2023-5">Russia's oil trade with India is booming</a> — but Moscow doesn't know how to fully reap the benefits of that trade. Even since Russia was cut off from the US dollar-dominated global payments systems following sweeping sanctions off the Ukraine war, the two countries have used the Indian rupee for trade.However, Russia's now having issues with trading in the rupee because there's more Indian demand for Russian goods than the other way around — meaning Russia has been saddled up to $1 billion worth of rupees each month that's stuck in Indian banks, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-01/russia-s-rupee-trap-is-adding-to-147-billion-hoard-stuck-abroad" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg calculations</a> on Thursday.And it's not like Russia can send the rupees back home either because India has <a href="https://www.ncaer.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/j4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restrictions over capital flows</a> by foreign investors — the country is looking at $2 to $3 billion worth of rupees stuck in India every quarter.That adds up to $147 billion in Russia's net foreign assets built up over 2022, per Bloomberg estimates based on Bank of Russia data. To contextualize how big of a sum that is for Russia, the country spent 5.51 trillion rubles, or $68 billion, on defense in 2022, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-defence-spending-jumped-282-yy-26-bln-jan-feb-budget-data-2023-05-15/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per a May 15 Reuters report that cites data from the country's Federal Treasury</a>.<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/russia-india-ruble-rupee-sanctions-trade-imbalance-yuan-weapons-deficit-2023-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov</a> flagged the issues with the rupee earlier this month — <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-05/russia-says-it-has-billions-of-indian-rupees-that-it-can-t-use" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he told reporters in India on May 5</a> there was a problem with "billions of rupees accumulated in accounts at Indian banks, and we need to use this money.""For this, rupees should be converted into other currencies. This is being discussed," Lavrov said, per Bloomberg.India and Russia are now trying to work out how Russia can use its mounting rupee stash. Options include getting Russian entities to invest in India's capital markets, Bloomberg reported, citing officials in India familiar with details.Another option under discussion is having Russia channel the rupees into Indian infrastructure projects in exchange for equity stakes, per the media outlet.But in these talks, Moscow doesn't really have much bargaining power."There are no alternative oil importers of India's caliber on the horizon for Russia, so exporters and banks will gradually accept settlement in rupees," said Alexander Isakov, Russia economist at Bloomberg Economics.And while India may have boosted its Russian oil purchases by taking advantage of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-ukraine-war-energy-revenues-admit-problems-discounts-sanctions-2023-5">steep discounts</a> amid Western sanctions and boycotts, these buyers also have other options for obtaining their energy requirements, wrote Ian Hall, a professor of international relations, on the <a href="https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/trade-talks-mask-growing-tensions-between-india-and-russia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian Institute of International Affairs website</a> on May 2. "It is unlikely, however, that India will remain so dependent on Russian supplies in the medium to long term, given the relative proximity of the Middle Eastern producers on which it has traditionally relied," wrote Hall, who is also acting director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University in Australia.The Kremlin, Russian central bank, and India's External Affairs ministry did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Russia doesn't know what to do with the $1 billion in rupees it is amassing in India each month

Thiruvananthapuram, External Affairs Minister <keyword id="491850" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="s-jaishankar" source="Orion">S Jaishankar</keyword> on Sunday said the West was not the "bad guy" as it was not flooding Asian and African markets with goods on a massive scale and that there was a need to get over the "syndrome" of seeing it in a negative way. <keyword id="236448" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="jaishankar" source="Orion">Jaishankar</keyword>, in an interview to Malayalam news channel Asianet, also made it clear that he was not batting for the West. He was in Thiruvananthapuram as part of the launch of the <keyword id="18816562" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="PM-Vishwakarma-scheme-" source="Orion">PM Vishwakarma scheme.</keyword> "It is not the West which is flooding Asia and Africa with goods on a massive scale. I think we need to get over the syndrome of the past that the West is the bad guy and on the other side are the developing countries. The world is more complicated, the problems are much more complicated than that," the minister said. Former Indian diplomat T P Sreenivasan interviewed the minister for the channel. On being asked whether Chinese President <keyword id="191809" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="xi-jinping" source="Orion">Xi Jinping</keyword> did not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi because it did not want India to be seen as leader of the Global South, Jaishankar said the reasons were up for speculation. He said the issue today was the building up of a strong sense, over the last 15-20 years, over the inequities of globalisation where countries saw their products, manufacturing and employment come under stress due to their markets being flooded by cheap goods -- an indirect reference to the Chinese trade and economic policies. The minister said this underlying resentment and pain of those countries regarding the global economy was building up for the last 15-20 years and the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict resulted in prices of energy and food items going up. So there was a sense of anger building up in countries about them being used as an extractive resource to fuel the economy of another nation and added that the West was not to be blamed for that. He made it clear that he was not batting for the West and said that in today's globalisation there was a concentration of manufacturing that was being leveraged and subsidised and was affecting economies of various nations. However, India's manufacturing, agriculture, scientific achievement like the Chandrayaan-3 mission, ability to vaccinate, etc all of that has created a sense among the Global South, which includes the African Union, "that one of us has the ability to stand, grow and progress". "So they identify with us in a way that they do not with other people," Jaishankar said. Responding to queries, he also spoke about the achievements of the G20 Summit under the Indian presidency and the threat posed by the political space given by Canada to the Khalistan group. Jaishankar said that some of the major achievements of the G20 Summit under the Indian presidency was that India was able to get the influential group of nations back on the track of growth and development and also focus on the Global South initiative. In addition to that, the country was also able to do diplomacy in a different way and through the summit created a greater interest in the nation about the Baltic, he said. Jaishankar said India was a different country now with a different level of confidence and a different leadership and the manner in which G20 was conducted has only benefited the nation. He said that the summit showed that the agenda "does not have to be decided by the West or by the P5 or by a narrow one or two countries" and that India too can shape it. "By doing the Voice of the Global South (summit) and bringing 125 nations together, we straightaway shaped the agenda," he said. At the same time, he said, the Global South was not a new world order or a definition and India was not claiming to be its leader. "My most truthful answer is that the Global South is not a definition, but a feeling. It is a feeling of solidarity, a willingness to put yourself out," he said, adding that "those who are part of it know it and those who are not also know it". World leaders at the two-day G20 Summit in New Delhi recently had hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "decisive leadership" and for championing the voice of the Global South. He also welcomed the proposed economic corridor with India at one end and Europe at the other and which passes through the Middle East making it easier for people from here to go there for job opportunities. While speaking about people migrating abroad for jobs, he touched upon the issue of the Khalistan group's activities in Canada and its effect on India's relations with that country. He said the problem arises when, for whatever reason, such countries give space in their politics for activities of such groups. The minister said there were compulsions in politics, "but everybody, especially in a democracy, must temper that with a larger sense of responsibility to the world as well as a sense of responsibility to their own image and their own well being". "Forget us for the moment. You know the kind of force involved in all of this. They are not good for the country where all of this will happen. Today it is Canada, it could be something else tomorrow. We are focusing on generating that appreciation," he said. On how India managed to not get Russia blamed for the Ukraine conflict in the G20 declaration, Jaishankar said, "Everybody compromised." "There was a lot of give and take," he added. He said what happened in the Bali Summit of G20, where Russia was blamed, could not be repeated in India and at the same time the clock could not be stopped there. "This is New Delhi. So the New Delhi outcome had to be forged," he said. He also said that in the G20 India was able to focus on the Global South in terms of phrases, agenda, outcome and the African Union's membership "for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi really stuck his neck out". "This is a different country, with a different level of confidence and a different leadership," he concluded.

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