The European Union refused to reconnect Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT

SWIFT stopped servicing Rosselkhozbank in June last year. Reconnecting the bank to the system was one of Russia's conditions for extending the grain deal. In the EUdeclaredthat this cannot be done until the end of the conflict

The European Union will not reconnect Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT until the end of the conflict in Ukraine , Peter Stano, the official representative of the foreign policy service of the political bloc, told Izvestia.

The diplomat stressed that the disconnection from SWIFT is part of the sanctions imposed by European countries and their allies in response to Russia's conduct of a special military operation in Ukraine, they can be mitigated or lifted only after the end of the conflict.

Speaking about the grain deal, Stano noted that "the only thing that hinders unhindered trade flows and the EXPORT of food and agricultural products through the Black Sea" remains a special operation. In addition, according to him, the conflict in Ukraine "exacerbated the already serious global problems of food security."

“EU sanctions do not apply to trade in agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilizers, between third countries and RUSSIA, payment options still exist between them,” the diplomat stressed.

SWIFT stopped servicing Rosselkhozbank from June 14, 2022. it is disconnected from the system, but it is not under EU blocking sanctions. The EU has repeatedly reported that it is exploring the possibility of reconnecting the bank to SWIFT to facilitate the export of Russian agricultural products, but this has not yet happened.

Instead of SWIFT, the European Union in March of this year allowed Rosselkhozbank to use fax and e-mail. And in April it became known that the US Treasury gave permission to process payments from Rosselkhozbank JPMorgan Chase & Co, REUTERS reported .

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The Russian Foreign Ministry called the reconnection of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT one of the five key problems standing in the way of extending the grain deal. “Reconnection of Rosselkhozbank, which provides the majority of transactions on agricultural issues, agricultural operations, is a key issue. Without this, of course, we simply cannot move forward, ”said Sergey Vershinin, deputy HEAD of the department.

The grain deal between Russia and Ukraine was concluded with Turkey and the UN in July 2022 and has since been renewed several times. The agreement consists of two parts: the first guarantees the safe export of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea, and the second is the removal of restrictions on the access of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to the world market . Russia has repeatedly pointed out that the second part of the grain deal is not being implemented, which is why its extension was in doubt.

On May 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the parties managed to agree on an extension of the agreement for another two months, this information was confirmed in Moscow. According to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, "distortions" in the implementation of the grain agreement should be "corrected as quickly as possible." The new term of the agreement is until July 17.