Putin signs decree on payments for agricultural products in national currencies

MOSCOW. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the decree "On the Special Procedure for Making Settlements under Foreign Trade Contracts for the Supply of Russian Agricultural Products," which provides for payment for these products in national currencies.

The document was signed on August 8 and posted on the official portal of legal information.

The decree envisages that special Z-type ruble accounts and special Z-type FX accounts will be used for settlements under foreign trade contracts for the supply of Russian agricultural products concluded by residents who are participants in foreign trade activities with foreign buyers at organized auctions. The list of such products will be approved by the government.

Special Z-type ruble and FX accounts are opened by lenders, which in accordance with the law "On Currency Regulation and Currency Control" are authorized banks, on the basis of applications from foreign buyers. Banks are authorized to open such accounts without the presence of a representative of the foreign buyer.

In line with the decree, the foreign buyer will transfer funds to the special Z-type FX account. After it is credited to the currency account, the buyer sells the currency to the authorized bank or gives it an order to sell foreign currency in organized trading in accordance with the procedure established by the rules of the authorized bank. The bank, in its turn, credits the funds in rubles to the special Z-type account of this foreign buyer, and on the basis of its order and an extract from the register of contracts concluded in organized trading, it transfers the credited funds in rubles to the account of the resident - participant in foreign economic activity.

According to the decree, there are no permissions to suspend operations on special Z-type accounts, seize or write off funds held on them as part of the fulfillment of obligations of a foreign purchaser which are not related to settlements under a foreign trade contract for the supply of Russian agricultural products. Exceptions are cases provided for by the Russian Tax Code and the law from August 3, 2018 "On Customs Regulation in Russia and on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Russia."

The president granted the Central Bank's board of directors the authority to establish the regimes for both types of special Z-type accounts. The government has been instructed to approve within 30 days a list of agricultural products to be sold under this scheme.

The decree enters into effect from the day of its official publication, and the portions envisaging opening of accounts and settlement mechanisms - starting on November 1, 2023.