Disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT payment system will harm the European economy. This was stated by the leader of the party “Alternative for Germany”, a member of the Bundestag Tino Chrupalla.
“I hope that such steps will not be taken, because it will isolate the country <...> in the end it will damage the European economy again,” he said. Chrupalla stressed that Russia has already created its own system for the transfer of financial data, which indicates the search for new ways for the state. He wondered what Germany would get from this situation. The deputy stressed that Moscow has its own interests, like Berlin, and on the basis of these interests a dialogue should be built that will allow for good relations. At the same time, on June 8, the executive director of the Russian National SWIFT Association (Rosswift) Roman Chernov assured that the SWIFT interbank payment system does not intend to disconnect Russia from its services. Chernov also recalled that in 2014 the Bank of Russia developed a system for transmitting financial messages, which “cooled the ardor of hotheads” who threatened to disconnect the country from SWIFT.
The Russian Foreign Ministry admitted that SWIFT could be involved in anti-Russian sanctions, primarily by the United States. The head of the department, Sergey Lavrov, assured that Moscow is already preparing backup options in case of disconnection from payment systems.
