The Russian government has decided that debts to "unfriendly states" will from now on only be settled in roubles, a response to the unprecedented sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West for its invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian list of unfriendly states includes Spain, all the other EU member states, Switzerland, Japan, Britain, Canada and, perhaps not surprisingly, Ukraine.
Until now, the list only included the United States and the Czech Republic.
In practical terms, being on the list simply means that Russian citizens, companies, or the state itself can only pay debts to any individual or company in roubles.
The West has sanctioned numerous Russian banks and excluded many Russian financial institutions from the SWIFT banking communications network, making transfers and other transactions much more difficult.
Foreign debts of $478.2 billion
According to the Russian Central Bank, Russia had foreign debts of $478.2 billion as of 1 January 2022.
The Russian rouble has been recording big losses for days, and on Monday it also fell significantly against the dollar and the euro.
