Sales technique: American business switches to settlements in rubles with Russia

The American business uses rubles for settlements with the Russian Federation. There are already several companies from the United States that use Russian currency to purchase our goods, from fertilizers to metals, Sergey Katyrin, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Izvestia. Most often, they do not need their own ruble accounts in Russia — payments are made through intermediaries. The trade turnover between Moscow and Washington in the first half of 2025 increased by almost a third to $2.8 billion, while exports from Russia accounted for 2.5 billion. The share of settlements in rubles throughout the American region has already reached 68% in June, according to the Central Bank. Whether this trend will continue and how active actions to resolve the conflict in Ukraine will affect it is in the Izvestia article.

Trade turnover between Russia and the United States in 2025

Currently, direct dollar transfers are almost impossible, so businesses have found alternative mechanisms — settlements through intermediaries, Sergey Katyrin, president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Izvestia.

— In fact, it works like this: the Russian importer pays for the delivery in rubles, the funds pass through an intermediary bank in a third country, and from there the American supplier receives the usual dollars. In some cases, foreign banks keep correspondent accounts in Russian ones, which makes it easier to make ruble payments," explained Sergey Katyrin.

In rare cases, Americans spend ruble funds inside Russia, for example, if a US company still has a branch or representative. But the main flow, according to the president of the CCI of the Russian Federation, is through conversion, since American business has no direct interest in accumulating rubles. They are quickly converted into convenient currencies, or used for counter purchases of Russian goods — this allows minimizing currency risks and continuing cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis, Sergey Katyrin emphasized. He said that some companies from the United States pay in rubles for counter purchases of Russian goods. According to him, we are talking about a wide variety of products, from fertilizers to metals.

Igor Rastorguev, a leading analyst at AMarkets, also confirmed that settlements in Russian currency with US companies more often take place through intermediary banks or clearing mechanisms and the ruble payment is converted. Conducting such transactions is a signal that the national currency is becoming a more familiar instrument, even in sensitive areas, the expert noted.

American companies are interested in supplying certain goods from Russia, such as metals, fertilizers, petrochemicals, and uranium, and the payment in rubles has become a technical compromise that allows these transactions to be maintained, said independent expert Andrey Barkhota.

The trade turnover between Russia and the United States has already increased by almost a third in the first half of 2025, to $2.8 billion. At the same time, the lion's share fell on Russian supplies (about $2.5 billion) — our country sells uranium, fertilizers, and precious metals to the United States. Imports from the United States are mainly limited to pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and chemical analysis devices. It is in these niches that ruble payments help maintain the stability of supply chains, said Sergey Katyrin.

At the same time, the share of the Russian currency in Russian import payments with the entire American region in April-June has already reached a record 64% in recent years, according to statistics from the Central Bank (Izvestia studied). The data is available from 2019. As explained to the editorial board in the regulator, the macroregion includes North and South America.

For comparison, in the second quarter of 2024, the share of the Russian currency was only 29% of all calculations. That is, it has increased 2.2 times in a year.

Russia is promoting its currency, and this makes it possible to reduce vulnerability to external shocks. The very fact of the expansion of the ruble zone in international trade strengthens financial sovereignty and creates the basis for long-term stability, Igor Rastorguev believes.

Who else does Russia trade with

With other regions, the share of payments in rubles for imports is also growing. So, in general, it reached 55% in all countries (+13 percentage points compared to the second quarter of 2024). With countries in the Caribbean, our country has almost completely switched to rubles, where the figure reached 81%, adding 54 percentage points over the year. In Oceania, it reached 73% (+23 percentage points) and almost the same level in trade with Africa — 70% (+22 percentage points).

Payments in rubles for imports from Europe increased from 55% to 65%, and from Asia reached half.

After a series of restrictions on dollar transfers, Russian companies and banks began to switch to the ruble as a unit of account, even with non-core partners, explained Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global. In addition, the warming of relations and the negotiation process with the United States create a background in which businesses feel more confident, he added.

— In Europe, the transition to the ruble is largely due to the preservation of niche supplies and the need to circumvent restrictions through mutual settlements in currencies, while in Africa and Oceania, Russia's more active trade expansion and participation in energy, food and fertilizer projects have become an additional incentive. For partners, this is also an opportunity to obtain ruble liquidity that can be used to purchase Russian goods," explained Vladimir Chernov.

The transition to ruble payments is a necessary measure, added Alexander Potavin, an analyst at Finam Financial Group. Since all the key banks in Russia over the past three years have been moved beyond settlements in dollars and euros through the SWIFT system, an alternative system had to be built to service foreign trade. As a result, the rubles received by foreign suppliers from Russian importers are used to pay for Russian exports, he added.

Payments for Russian goods in rubles are also growing. In total, 53% of such transactions were conducted in Russian currency in the second quarter of 2025 (40% a year earlier). The ruble's presence increased by 15 percentage points in trade with Asia (to 51%), and its share doubled with the American region (to 48%). In export payments with Oceania, Africa and the Caribbean, our country has almost completely switched to rubles — the share of them exceeded 90%.

What will happen to imports and exports by the end of the year

Companies and banks have already established payment schemes in rubles, and they will scale. At the same time, the warming of relations and the easing of sanctions may lead to an increase in trade, experts say.

After a drop in volumes in 2022-2023, trade with the United States began to recover gradually, and in 2024 it amounted to about $3.5 billion. In 2025, with the current dynamics, we can expect growth of 10-15% — up to $3.8–4 billion, predicted Vladimir Chernov.

In his opinion, export growth will also continue, although the pace is likely to slow down against the background of a high base, and by the end of the year the figure may gain a foothold in the region of 58-60%. However, further dynamics will depend solely on the course of negotiations and possible sanctions adjustments, therefore, in a favorable scenario, an increase to $ 7 billion is possible, he added.

After the end of the military conflict in Ukraine and the signing of a peace treaty, some of the Western sanctions will be lifted, said Alexander Potavin from Finam. Then there may be a slight increase in the share of Russian settlements in foreign currency. However, in rubles, it will no longer be as low as before, experts say.