Russia's VTB to expand cross-border transfers from 11 to 25 nations; India, Turkey new destinations

VTB CEO Andrei Kostin said the lender was working to ensure Russians could pay comfortably when overseas.

The logo of VTB bank is seen on the bank's headquarters in Tehran, Iran, May 23, 2023. Credit: Reuters Photo

Russia's No 2 lender VTB on Thursday said it would increase the number of countries to which retail clients can send money to 25 from 11, with India and Turkey the key, new destinations.

VTB was particularly hard hit by sweeping Western sanctions, cut off from transactions in major global currencies and blocked from the international SWIFT payments system soon after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

"The key destinations in the outlook of this year will be India and Turkey, with whom our country has established partnership relations and where the tourist flow is now directed," said Deputy President-Chairman of VTB's management board Anatoly Pechatnikov.

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VTB CEO Andrei Kostin last week told Reuters the end of the dominance of the US dollar was nigh as the Chinese yuan rises and the rest of the world sees the peril of the West's failed attempt to bring Russia to its knees over Ukraine.

Kostin also said VTB was working to ensure Russians could pay comfortably when overseas.

In January-May this year, Belarusian roubles accounted for 43 per cent of VTB's soft currency cross-border transfers, followed by the Kazakh tenge with 39 per cent and the yuan with 14 per cent.