Rupee trade: Two Russian banks get RBI nod for special vostro account

Trade between India and Russia started growing after the latter invaded Ukraine in late February

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its approval to two Russian banks for opening special Vostro account for rupee trade. Sberbank, JSC VTB — the largest and second largest bank of Russia — are the first foreign lenders to receive this approval after the central bank announced the norms on INR trade in July. Both lenders have branch presence in India.

Earlier this month, state-run UCO Bank received the RBI’s approval to open a special Vostro account with Gazprombank of Russia. While the Kolkata-based lender is in the process of opening the account, the bank has received requests