UCO Bank, used by India for Iran payments, plans rupee trade with Russia

UCO Bank will put in place operational modalities before opening the account with the Russian counterpart, Prasad said, adding that there is no clear time line on when transactions can begin

India’s state-run UCO Bank will soon open open a special rupee account with Russia’s Gazprombank to facilitate growing trade between the two countries, a top official said.
 

The bank has received the necessary approval from the regulator-- the Reserve Bank of India -- to open a special rupee vostro account, Soma Sankara Prasad, managing director and chief executive officer at UCO Bank, told Bloomberg News in a phone interview.

UCO Bank has in the past functioned as the payment bank for oil imports from sanction-hit Iran. On the other hand, Gazprombank has so far been spared the harsher sanctions Russia