Belarus working to join UnionPay system

MINSK. April 25 (Interfax) - Belarus is expecting to complete joining China's UnionPay system soon, Belarusian Finance Minister Yury Seliverstov said.

"We're working to join the Chinese systems, and we will soon finish it. [...] It will only accelerate passing of payments, the return of revenues and, subsequently, tax revenues for the treasury," he said on the Belarus 1 television channel on Saturday.

Trading and repaying debts in the creditor's currency is convenient, the minister said.

"We're trading with the Chinese side, with our Chinese partners often in yuan, in their national currencies, and they are satisfied with it. They have their own system which transfers yuan. If we received revenues for our export in yuan, we will be able to purchase, for instance, some electronic devices there, using their currencies also there, wiring money using their system," he said.

"The more opportunities we have to pay using various currencies and use various systems, the fewer threats we face and more guarantees and confidence we have in that we will get revenues for goods we supply and we are able to conduct payments," the Belarusian minister said.