No problems with cross-border settlements at present - Russian MinFin

VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 4 (Interfax) - The Russian Finance Ministry, certain banks and representatives of the real sector do not see any problems with conducting cross-border settlements at present.

"I don't think this is a problem right now," Alexei Yakovlev, head of the ministry's Financial Policy Department, said at an Eastern Economic Forum session dedicated to international payments and cross-border settlements.

Restrictions and sanctions have contributed to the development of new alternative settlement systems, said Olga Basha, member of the management board of VTB . "This is an opportunity. Crisis is opportunity, as the Chinese character says. We should be thanking you, in fact. We have moved so quickly towards a multilateral system. Thank you, you turned off SWIFT, we forgot about the dollar, and that's good," she said.

Russia has adapted to the restrictions, PSB Bank Deputy CEO Mikhail Dorofeyev said. "I don't see such problems," he said.

But Anton Berlin, Vice President - Director of Sales and Commerce at MMC Norilsk Nickel , was not so sure. "Banks don't have problems, but the real sector [does]. I think it'll take two years [to fully resolve the problems with international settlements]," he said.

If goods are in demand, then a means of paying for them will always be found, said Yulia Shabala, Deputy CEO, Government Relations at Metalloinvest Management Company. "The costs might vary, the speed might vary, but they'll always pay. The main thing is that our goods are in demand," she said.

"We are extremely creative, stable and resourceful. Everything will be fine," said Alexei Vostokov, head of Polyus Management Company .