Companies are afraid to pay China in cryptocurrencies: AUREK co-president

Companies have had problems making payments to China even using cryptocurrencies, Tatyana Gudina, co-chair of the Association of Electronic Commerce Market Participants (AUREC), told RB.RU.

According to Gudina, Problems with the Chinese deal exist both on the Chinese side, because Chinese banks, under threat of secondary sanctions, stopped serving Russian clients, and on the Russian side, because of the repatriation of foreign exchange earnings. Currently, cryptocurrency payments are under foreign exchange control.

“Businessmen are afraid to pay with cryptocurrencies. If initially cryptocurrency was a saving mechanism in this situation, now for each cryptocurrency transaction a transaction passport must be created and repatriation must be ensured, which is not always possible to do within the time frame that banks usually require, which is 40-60 days,” Gudin said.

As a result, the problem has arisen that entrepreneurs are forced to use intermediaries.

“This affects not only the final price of goods, but also the fact that, in principle, the number of purchases abroad decreases, and, as a result, the economic activity of our sellers who import goods from China and other countries decreases,” says AUREC President Alexander Efimov.

According to the president of AUREC, there is a problem and it is not yet clear how to solve it systematically, taking into account public and state interests.

“In our opinion, these should be state-initiated platforms to ensure mutual settlements using digital financial assets,” Alexander Efimov concluded.

As RB.RU reported, Russian companies have again encountered problems when paying for goods and cargo from China. Chinese banks, which are not afraid of sanctions and work with the Russian Federation, have begun to offer unfavourable conditions. As a result, companies have to use the services of intermediaries, take risks and pay higher interest rates.

According to Asia Import Group, the increase in the number of stages of payment processing, and the resulting increase in the number of conversions and various commissions, leads to an increase in the cost of goods and their transportation from China, according to the report. According to the company’s calculations, the price automatically increases by 7-10%.

Daria Mushta, co-founder and CEO of VM Partners, a consulting firm for working with China and Southeast Asian countries, and an expert in the field of business creation with China, added that it is possible that paying agents are hiding along with the money, so it is important to pay attention not only to the percentage of the transaction, but also to the reputation of the partner.