US approves Russia's critical agricultural payments

According to Reuters, the US has allowed JPMorgan to process payments for Russia’s agricultural exports, while Russia wants to be allowed back into SWIFT. The US has authorized investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co to process payments to the Agricultural Bank of Russia (Rosselkhozbank), but this will not replace the SWIFT messaging system. Reintegrating the Agricultural Bank of Russia into the SWIFT messaging system was one of Russia’s main demands for renewing the Black Sea grain corridor agreement. Russia has said it will not extend the agreement unless the West lifts restrictions on Russian grain and fertilizer exports. “JPMorgan has obtained an OFAC (U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control) license to process payments for agricultural exports, but the transactions are difficult. This is not a replacement for SWIFT,” the Russian source told Reuters. According to another source with knowledge of the transactions, the US State Department and the US Treasury have asked JPMorgan to carry out “very limited and closely monitored” transactions regarding agricultural exports this month. Russia’s representative to the United Nations (UN), Gennady Gatilov, said they have requested that the Russian Agricultural Bank be re-introduced to the SWIFT system and do not want the bank’s authority to conduct transactions to be decided “on a case-by-case basis” in different cases.