Alexander Vedyakhin, the First Deputy Chairman of the Board at Sberbank, spoke at the Eastern Economic Forum during the session titled Great Eurasian Partnership: Pathways to Economic Development. He emphasized the necessity to move beyond SWIFT-era settlements by adopting alternatives such as SPFS and Sber FinLine, among others. The aim is clear: reduce reliance on a single payments network and broaden the tools available for international trade within a rapidly evolving geopolitical and financial landscape.
Vedyakhin highlighted a central challenge that many economies face today: conducting trade with friendly nations in their own currencies, including rubles. Even with shifts in geopolitical realities, trade contracts often continue to be priced in dollars and euros, creating friction and financial losses as parties adjust to new currency frameworks. This inertia complicates the transition and increases risk for both sides as global markets realign around new settlement paradigms.
He argued for the creation of a robust foreign exchange ecosystem that includes bilateral agreements, diversified financing channels, and non-currency-dependent trading options. He proposed a system rooted in barter-like efficiency, accompanied by a formal exchange that offers futures, derivatives, and modern risk management tools. The proposal includes establishing a commodity exchange in the Far East to engage with the Asia-Pacific region and neighboring markets. Citing prior collaboration with the St. Petersburg Commodity Exchange, he called for a platform where trading is supported by a full suite of financial instruments and infrastructure, elevating the entire trading experience to a new level of efficiency and reliability.
In Vedyakhin’s view, advancing lending conditions and mutual guarantees for partner countries is equally important. He noted that friendly nations often prefer to pay in rubles but face liquidity gaps due to trade imbalances: heavy importing from Russia paired with reciprocal purchasing can strain ruble availability. Sberbank expressed readiness to supply rubles to support domestic purchases by these partners, but stressed the need for guarantees, with EXIAR playing a pivotal role in risk mitigation and financing support. This approach would help stabilize trade flows and reduce friction in cross-border transactions by expanding ruble-based settlement options.
The executive underscored the goal of making financial instruments available in national currencies and rubles so that platforms and currencies tied to traditional reserve currencies gradually recede from the picture. He pointed out that the current cross-rate framework, dominated by dollar and euro pairings, should be complemented by direct currency-ruble trading pairs. The vision includes a platform anchored to the Moscow Exchange where direct trade between rubles and national currencies becomes routine, supported by the right infrastructure and regulatory clarity. He asserted that implementing such a system is not an insurmountable task and could be achieved within six to nine months, depending on collaboration, policy alignment, and market readiness. The anticipated outcome is a significant boost in Eurasian partnership trade, potentially increasing volumes by about one and a half to two times due to the presence of high-quality, modern financial instruments and streamlined settlement processes.
The Eastern Economic Forum, in this context, is seen as a crucial international venue for strengthening ties between the Russian economy and the global investment community. It serves as a platform for presenting the economic potential of the Russian Far East, uncovering investment opportunities, and outlining favorable business conditions in priority development areas. The forum provides a forum-like space for dialogue among policymakers, financial institutions, and business leaders, enabling practical cooperation and strategic alignment across regions. It also functions as a barometer of investor sentiment and a catalyst for collaborative ventures that can accelerate development across Eurasia. As such, the event contributes to a broader narrative about regional integration, financial modernization, and pragmatic measures to support trade and investment in a shifting global landscape.