Ukraine crisis: Payments stopped, Russian firms pressure Indian banks

Banks await RBI, govt's advisory on transactions with Russian companies

Financial transactions between India and Russia have come to a grinding halt after Indian banks stopped remitting funds to firms for their exports even as Russian companies put pressure on the lenders.

Most of the payments to Russian companies that are due are for defence-related items. Indian banks are forced to stop sending funds to Russ­ian exporters after the Eur­opean Union and the US and other western partners cut off Russia from the SWIFT system.

SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is an instant messaging system that informs users when payments have been sent and received. Created in 1973 and based