Russian President Vladimir Putin said that BRICS member countries are jointly developing a separate payments framework to be used for trade transactions within the bloc.
RT reported that in a speech at the Russian Energy Week Forum in Moscow on September 26, President Putin emphasized that supplying Russian oil and gas to "friendly countries" helps Russia ensure economic stability and compete more successfully in the global market.
However, President Putin admitted that there were still “certain difficulties” when foreign countries paid for Russian energy. Russia has been cut off from the international banking system SWIFT as part of comprehensive sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.
"As part of cooperation with the BRICS countries, we are working to create our own payment and transaction system," Putin said.
According to the Russian leader, this will create conditions for member states to conduct trade effectively and independently.
Russia is actively switching to using national currencies in transactions with BRICS countries and "our partners are extremely interested in this" - President Putin emphasized.
The Russian leader pointed out that the share of the ruble in Russia's foreign trade has almost tripled in 2021-2023. In the first half of this year, this share reached 39.4%.
As the current BRICS chair, Russia will host the BRICS summit in Kazan from 22-24 October 2024.
BRICS originally consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. On January 1, 2024, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) officially became new members of BRICS.
Earlier this month, the New York-based Nasdaq stock exchange warned in a post on its website that the BRICS countries are looking to establish a BRICS common currency as a new reserve currency backed by a basket of their respective currencies.
The article noted that the move is likely to have a significant impact on several major currencies, which could lead to a drop in demand or so-called de-dollarization and would impact the global economy.
