Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina appears bewildered by U.S. pressure. During a congress of the Bank of Russia on July 3, Nabiullina admitted a lack of effective countermeasures against the sanctions and advised against public discussions about international money transfer schemes and business strategies of Russian banks. This, in effect, signaled that the Russian Central Bank has no adequate response to U.S. sanctions imposed on foreign banks that collaborate with Russia. 

Struggling with limited tools for cross-border transfers, Russia faces growing pressure amid Washington's threats of secondary sanctions on Chinese banks and others. Russian banks and companies are forced to constantly change their transfer schemes to avoid U.S. detection. Russia is losing one Chinese bank after another, though issues persist in other countries as well.

VTB Bank head Andrey Kostin also spoke at the forum, suggesting that international transfers by Russian banks should be marked "top secret". Kostin highlighted a recent example involving the VTB branch in China, which he praised for its high demand. However, following his remarks, the U.S. swiftly imposed blocking sanctions on the branch on June 12. By the time of the forum on July 3, Kostin expressed his fear: "I am sure that even now, some second secretary of the U.S. embassy is sitting somewhere, listening, and recording our discussion. Whatever steps we take, the reaction is immediate," he stressed.

Kostin acknowledged daily improvements in the situation but asserted that Russian banks are finding solutions that should remain undisclosed.

"It's better to say less about this, so we're avoiding specifics," concluded Central Bank head Nabiullina.

The head of Russia’s main financial regulator, informally but publicly, agreed with other financial institutions to conceal operations involving money transfers that evade and thus violate U.S., EU, and other international sanctions.

  Russia, Nabiullina

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