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3d ago

Russia Revives Barter to Skirt Sanctions, With Wheat-for-Cars Swaps Emerging

Fears of secondary sanctions have pushed trade partners toward goods-for-goods exchanges that are harder to track.

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Wheat for cars, seeds for materials: russia revives barter amidst crippling sanctions

Overview

  • Reuters documented at least eight recent barter deals, including Chinese cars exchanged for Russian wheat and flax seeds traded for appliances and building materials.
  • Russia’s economy ministry issued a 14-page Guide to Foreign Barter Transactions in 2024 and floated a dedicated barter platform to formalize such trade.
  • Russia’s customs service acknowledged barter across a wide range of goods but described its share as insignificant relative to overall foreign trade.
  • Analysts pointed to a $7 billion gap between central bank and customs trade data in the first half of 2025, saying the divergence may reflect hard-to-measure swaps.
  • Businesses are combining goods-for-goods deals with other workarounds such as payment agents, cryptocurrencies, and state-linked channels like VTB’s Shanghai branch.