Russia cannot get USD 39 billion for oil sold to India

Having increased the supply of oil to India by 11 times and launched trade in national currencies due to sanctions, russian exporters faced the impossibility of receiving money for the sold raw materials. About USD 39 billion is stuck in Indian banks, and oil companies cannot return it to the terrorist country of russia, a banking source told Reuters.

It is, in particular, about Indian rupees, which exporters receive instead of world currencies. If the banker is to be believed, the problem, which has existed since last year, has taken on colossal proportions: in terms of the exchange rate, the amount that has been stuck is approximately RUB 3.6 trillion. This is the annual budget of the entire national economy support program (RUB 3.5 trillion), almost three annual budgets of the entire higher education system (RUB 1.36 trillion per year) and more than 11 annual budgets of large regions, such as Novosibirsk or Nizhny Novgorod Oblasts (RUB 300 billion).

It is currently impossible to use the rupees that Russia receives for goods sold to India. The withdrawal of rupees from India is blocked by local regulation: the Indian Central Bank prohibits the circulation of its currency outside the country. The supply of goods from India, on which rupees could be spent, is negligible: for January-May 2023, they amounted to only USD 639 million, despite the fact that Russian exports to the Indian market were 40 times larger - USD 26.5 billion.

The solution to the problem has not yet been found, admitted the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Dinesh. The reason for the trade imbalance is the sanctions imposed against Russia, he said: because of this, calculations in dollars are too risky.

"(Amassed by Russian companies) a significant amount of rupees cannot be used. We are now continuing to look for a mechanism," Dinesh said.

The search for a solution has been ongoing since at least last fall and has so far proved futile. An attempt to negotiate the purchase of goods for rupees also did not lead to anything.