The Bank of China (BoC) has restricted from this week remittances in yuan to customers of Russian banks to banks in the European Union, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States (including foreign branches of banks in these countries, in particular in China), several Russian banks said.
The reasons for the decision were not reported. Yet experts claim it was most likely caused by US and EU sanctions pressure on China.
Similar restrictions have been imposed by banks in the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and other Russian-friendly nations in recent months alone, as due to their good relations with Moscow, they run the risk of being subject to Western sanctions.
That said, some Russian customers reported that their banks have already reconfigured yuan payments through other Chinese credit institutions.