Russia readies for life without SWIFT

An equivalent of Belgian SWIFT system has practically been created in Russia, Central Bank Chief Elvira Nabiullina said on Thursday, according to Russian news agency TASS.

"Work is on track. As far as financial messages transmission is concerned, we have practically set up a SWIFT counterpart in Russia," Nabiullina said, the report reads.

"The system contemplates competitive tariffs and the regulator is ready to develop and improve this service," the Central Bank Chief said.

According to Nabiullina, several dozen banks are ready to use it. The head of the Central Bank said that the SWIFT equivalent is being developed with maximum use of Russian IT technologies.

"Many complained our microelectronics is poorly developing and so on, but demand is needed to develop domestic production. We are generating such demand," she said.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) transmits 1.8 billion communications a year, remitting payment orders worth $6 trillion a day. The system comprises over 9,000 banks from 209 countries.

Under the SWIFT charter, groups of members and users are set up in each country covered by the system. In Russia, these groups are united in the RosSWIFT association.

There have been numerous calls of the international community to disconnect Russia from SWIFT, a more significant economic measure among other sanctions, aimed to deter Russia's aggression in Ukraine. However, the Western leaders have remained reluctant on this issue so far.