MOSCOW, July 21 Sergey Vershinin, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, said.
During a special briefing on the termination of the grain deal, Vershinin said that the proposal to create a «daughter» of Rosselkhozbank was voiced by the UN working group, and later «repeated in the message» of UN Secretary General António Guterres. Guterres later expressed regret that the proposal was left «without attention» by Russian leader Vladimir Putin. According to Vershinin, in any case, all these proposals from the UN looked like a palliative.
“Rosselkhozbank has an affiliated structure in Luxembourg, which ends its activities in October and has no potential for settlements,” the diplomat said.
He explained that this structure is not suitable for calculations. «There is no current account, it needs to be redone,» Vershinin explained.
He stressed that the creation of a separate «daughter» of Rosselkhozbank is a serious long-term project that involves large investments, hiring lawyers and money transfers.
The diplomat noted that in normal times this procedure takes several months, but in the current realities «it is not clear how long it will take.»
“When you are offered this in conditions when Russian banks are banned, that is, you have no opportunity to pay in foreign currency, there is no possibility to hire lawyers, there is no possibility of transfers … this proposal sounds unoptimistic,” Vershinin said.
He noted that all these actions will require payment it, at each stage requesting permission. «We just need a bank re-SWIFT without restrictions,» Vershinin summed up.
Russia had previously notified Turkey, Ukraine and the UN that it was terminating the grain deal effective July 18, which involved the export of Ukrainian grain and food, as well as fertilizer across the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The grain initiative was an integral part of the package deal. The second part — the Russia-UN memorandum, designed for three years — provided for the unblocking of Russian exports of food and fertilizers, among the main tasks were the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT, the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and services, the restoration of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline and a number of other measures. Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the terms of the deal with Russia were not fulfilled, despite the efforts of the UN, because the Western countries were not going to keep their promises. Putin also repeatedly pointed out that the West exported most of the Ukrainian grain to their states, and the main goal of the deal — the supply of grain to countries in need, including African ones — was never realized. » data-title=»The Foreign Ministry assured that Africa will not feel the consequences of the termination of the grain deal»>